


On The Trigger

by BloomingMiracle (Luna264)



Series: Swan Song [6]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Canon, Female Fujisaki Chihiro, Gen, She/Her Pronouns for Fujisaki Chihiro, Trans Female Fujisaki Chihiro, Trans Fujisaki Chihiro, i mean theyre all in here but those 6 get povs, not completely abyssmal writing of did, yknow as much as i do povs in 3rd person with 15/16 characters in every scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:02:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27633818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna264/pseuds/BloomingMiracle
Summary: The trials of the first killing game, in terms of the swan song AU.
Series: Swan Song [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1302956
Kudos: 23





	1. Idol Worship

**Author's Note:**

> This is partially me wanting to pin down how the trials went in this particular AU, partially me wanting to share my jokes/thoughts on how this all went down in canon, and partially me analyzing the mystery writing in the original series in order to improve my own mystery construction/execution. I also changed a few character points because they were poorly handled and I'm largely writing this for me

Thirteen people stepped out of the elevator, many of them casting suspicious glances at one of their number. That one, Naegi Makoto, tried to look small. He didn’t want to deal with them suspecting him, and he didn’t know how to get them to stop.

The crowd stopped as one, when they realized what was before them.

Sixteen podiums, labeled on their interiors with names, stood in a circle. And, standing behind two of them…

“Maizono?” Kuwata asked, voice shaking.

The figure that bore so much resemblance to that particular dead girl did not stir.

“Monokuma’s not waking her up,” Enoshima said. “He won’t explain why, I-- Listen, why are we here?”

“Monokuma already explained how the trials are going to work,” Kirigiri said.

“You were there,” Asahina added. “Did you forget?”

“Unfortunately,” Monokuma said, “these killing game robots can only be regularly updated once per day. We’ve opted to do as such at the turn of nighttime, but all that means that the robots  _ will _ be missing a few, ah, key details, until we can manually reconstruct them.”

Fukawa was taking notes in her student handbook.

“If they’re missing those details, then why isn’t Maizono awake?” Kirigiri raised an eyebrow.

“We here at the establishment have decided that she deserves a break from you losers,” Monokuma said as everyone took their places in the circle. “Ordinarily, we would’ve had her participate in the discussion to reveal her killer, but given the circumstances…”

“Oh, because it’s obvious?” Hagakure interrupted.

“I don’t think that’s it,” Kirigiri said. “I think it’s more likely that she knew something that could seriously sway our discussion, and she knew it  _ before _ nighttime last night.”

“The Monokuma File did say she was killed  _ at _ night,” Togami said. “But what does it matter? Like the idiot said, we already know who did it.”

“Oh, do you?” Enoshima-- the robot that looked like Enoshima?-- leaned on her podium, curiosity evident.

“Well, yeah,” Asahina said. “It’s obvious.”

Enoshima inhaled sharply. “Oh boy.”

Makoto looked at her imploringly, like she might be able to do something.

She sighed. “Can we tell me  _ why _ it’s obvious?”

“It-- It’s  _ totally _ obvious!” Kuwata blurted out. “I-- I mean, she died in Naegi’s room!”

“But the nameplate on the door was hers, wasn’t it?” Kirigiri crossed her arms, glaring at Kuwata from across the room. “Why would that be? I don’t think we should make our decision until we know.”

“Someone must have switched them,” Fujisaki mused. “I can’t think  _ why, _ though.”

“Mr. Naegi must have wanted her to think she was going into her own room,” Yamada accused.

“No, that’s not what happened!” Makoto protested.

“No point in denying it,” Owada said.

“But there is,” Ogami said. “Maizono’s key wouldn’t have opened Naegi’s door. Furthermore, she would have noticed that the bathroom door didn’t have a lock if she were going in.”

“That’s right,” Celeste said. “There’s almost no way she didn’t know where she was.”

“So what?” Kuwata said. “She was still killed in his shower, I’d say that’s pretty damning evidence.”

“But, like,” Enoshima said, “I wanna know what happened. If we mess up, you all die, too, right?”

Kirigiri’s eyes narrowed.

“Yeah,” Asahina said.

“I-- I guess it wouldn’t hurt to be thorough,” Fukawa said.

“So if we’re going to be thorough, the first question we have to answer is what she was doing in Naegi’s room,” Togami said.

“Can I give my testimony now?” Makoto asked. “Are we not going to kill me on sight?”

“They’re  _ not _ going to kill you on sight,” Kirigiri sighed.

“Please,” Ishimaru said. “If we’re going to do this right, we should hear from our classmate.”

“We haven’t had a  _ single _ class,” Owada said.

“Very well,” Celeste said. “Naegi, if you would.”

“Right,” Makoto said. “So, last night, Sayaka asked me if we could switch rooms.”

It was as if the entire room stopped breathing.

“She said she was scared, because someone had tried to force their way into her room,” Makoto continued, “and she was shaking pretty hard, so I believed her. So, I snagged a change of clothes, and we swapped keys. After that, I went to her room and slept there for the night, and, in the morning…”

“She was dead,” Kirigiri finished.

“Yeah.”

“He says that, but we can’t know for sure,” Kuwata said.

“Right,” Hagakure agreed. “He could easily be lying to us.”

“If someone would confess to attempting to enter her room, that would clear things up,” Ishimaru said.

“No one’s gonna confess to that.” Enoshima gave him a wholly unimpressed look.

“Besides,” Celeste said. “We have no way of confirming that she was telling the truth.”

Something shifted in Asahina’s face, and her hand flew to her mouth.

“We have no way of confirming that Naegi is telling the truth, either,” Togami pointed out.

“I--” Asahina said. “I-- I think he might be.”

“Huh?” Owada blinked, turning to look at her.

“That  _ would _ make that add up,” Ogami muttered.

“I saw Maizono taking a knife from the kitchen,” Asahina said quickly. “I didn’t think that much about it, I mean, she said she was just planning on defending herself in an emergency, but--”

“That sounds like something you shoulda thought about!” Kuwata pointed at her. “Maybe told the rest of us, even!”

“Kuwata’s right,” Kirigiri said. “You should have mentioned this earlier. You know what this might mean, right?”

Asahina nodded. “I… I think Maizono was planning to kill someone, and make Naegi take the blame.”

“What?” Makoto yelped. “That’s-- I mean-- She wouldn’t--”

“She very well could have,” Celeste said.

“That’s horrible,” Fujisaki said.

“No kidding,” Enoshima agreed.

“Wh-Who was she planning to kill, then?” Fukawa asked. “She must have asked someone to meet with her, in that case, right?”

“But we don’t have any way to know who, do we?” Togami tapped his chin thoughtfully. “We came in here convinced Naegi was the killer, but now it seems it’s anyone but him.”

“I found a notepad that was missing a sheet of paper,” Kirigiri said. “When I examined the imprints left on the remaining sheets, I discovered a message.”

Owada blinked. “How do you even--”

“It was someone asking someone else to meet about something,” Kirigiri continued. “She asked them to come to her room, and to identify the room by the nameplate on the door.”

“So…” Makoto looked around uneasily. “She invited someone to her room, switched with me, switched the nameplates, and tried to kill them?”

“Quite possible,” Kirigiri agreed.

“But that person musta fought back,” Enoshima said. “‘Cause now  _ she’s _ the one dead.”

“Not only that, but the room was noticeably scuffed up,” Fukawa said, going over her notes. “And her wrist was broken.”

“I mean,” Kuwata said. “Naegi still coulda done it, right? He could’ve come back to his room, and she might’ve tried to make him leave or knock him out or otherwise keep him quiet for her to go through with her plan, and he could’ve fought back.”

“It’s possible,” Yamada muttered.

“I didn’t!” Makoto protested.

“You’re going to need a better defense than that,” Celeste said.

“Yes,” Ogami said. “Although, there was something I wanted to ask Kirigiri about.”

Kirigiri inclined her head, indicating the other girl to continue.

“There was strange writing on the wall behind Maizono’s body,” Ogami said. “Was that there when you investigated?”

Kirigiri nodded. “It seems she left us a dying message, although I haven’t quite figured out what it means yet.”

“What was it?” Hagakure asked.

“A sequence of numbers, I believe,” Ogami said. “11037.”

“Do those numbers mean anything to anyone here?” Ishimaru asked.

“Maybe it was the password for something at her old middle school,” Kuwata said.

“It’s not a computer error code,” Fujisaki said. “Too many digits.”

“Maybe it has something to do with the economy?” Hagakure suggested.

Togami, Celeste, Makoto, and Kirigiri exchanged dumbfounded looks.

“Why would she write  _ any _ of those things?” Celeste asked. “She was dying.”

“Well, maybe she wanted to leave a coded message that the killer wouldn’t get,” Yamada said.

“I don’t think so,” Togami said. “In fact, I don’t think it’s numbers at all. Do we have a picture of the message?”

“Yes,” Kirigiri said. She pulled out her student handbook, navigated to the picture she’d taken, and passed it around the circle to Togami.

“Yes,” he said, looking at it. “It’s just as I thought.”

“Please,” Ishimaru said. “Share with the class.”

“Right, right,” Togami said, and held up the handbook, showing the picture to the room at large. “Look. Seeing it the way we would have at the crime scene, it looks like numbers. But, if we flip it…” He flipped it.

There was a pause.

“Togami,” Asahina said, “the screen rotated.”

“Fuck.” Togami turned the handbook back around and started messing with it. “Where’s the orientation lock on this thing?”

“Here, let me.” Fujisaki reached over and performed a few quick motions. “There.”

“Yes, there.” Togami said, and held up the now upside down picture.

Everyone leaned around and/or forward to look at it.

“Oh!” Celeste said. “I see!”

“Is that supposed to be romaji or something?” Owada crossed his arms.

“She was  _ dying, _ Owada,” Ogami pointed out.

“I think it’s technically English, anyways,” Enoshima said. “Take the ‘L’; that’s not romaji.”

“Man, I’m no good with that stuff,” Hagakure sighed. “What’s that say?”

“‘Leon’,” Celeste said. “Come to think of it, didn’t Kuwata say he wanted to be a rockstar, too? That would make it easier for her to draw him to the room, would it not?”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Kuwata said. “Besides, why would she write upside down?”

“It would’ve been right side up to her,” Togami said. “Her writing your name would make sense if you were the killer.”

“It’s compelling evidence,” Kirigiri said. “But we can’t be sure just yet. While the blood on her finger suggests that it was used to write it, there’s still a chance that the killer set that up to frame Kuwata. We’ll have to analyze more evidence before we come to our final conclusion.”

“Yeah!” Kuwata said. “Exactly!”

“Like the shattered crystal ball we found next to the incinerator?” Makoto suggested.

“Yes,” Kirigiri said. “And the bloody piece of sleeve we found there, too. It seems our killer tried to dispose of certain evidence.”

“Do you have a picture of the sleeve?” Togami asked, starting to swipe through her handbook.

“No,” she said. “Also, give that back.”

He passed her handbook back around the circle to her.

“How can we discuss details about the sleeve if you don’t have a picture?” Celeste asked.

Kirigiri set the sleeve down in front of her as she accepted the return of her handbook from Owada. “I figured we could look at the real thing.”

Everyone stared blankly at her.

“Was-- Was that in your pocket?” Hagakure asked. “Like, were you keeping it in there?”

“Well I was hardly going to sacrifice a hand to carry it all the way down here,” Kirigiri said. “Anyways. Does this look familiar to anyone?”

“It looks kinda like Kuwata’s shirt,” Enoshima said.

“Hey!” Kuwata protested. “What’d’you know, anyways?”

“No, she’s right,” Togami said.

“I want to hear this from someone who  _ hasn’t _ been accusing me.” Kuwata crossed his arms.

“Show us your sleeves, then,” Owada said. “Come on, let us see.”

“That is hardly--” Ishimaru began.

“I can’t believe you people!” Kuwata turned away from the circle. “You all think it was me! How could you?”

“We barely know you,” Celeste said.

“If you're innocent, it should be no problem to show us your sleeves, right?” Makoto blinked in confusion. “I know if I could prove my innocence that way, I’d do it.”

“So show us!” Kuwata whirled and pointed at him.

Makoto looked around, shrugged, and took off both of his jackets. Underneath, he wore a plain t-shirt.

“I can’t believe I didn’t realize you were wearing two of those,” Enoshima said.

“I get cold, okay?”

“In any case,” Kirigiri said. “We can see that-- hold up your arms-- his sleeves don’t match this one. This isn’t evidence tying him to the case.”

“Plenty of us are wearing shirts like that,” Kuwata said.

“True,” Kirigiri allowed. “But you’re going to have to work to convince us this isn’t yours.”

“Besides,” Makoto said, putting his jackets back on. “Whoever killed her didn’t realize they were in my room.”

“You can’t know that,” Yamada said.

“Actually, we can,” Kirigiri said. “The killer had to kill Maizono in the bathroom, and the doorknob was tampered with.”

“My door had an ill fitting frame, so the killer could easily have assumed it was locked,” Makoto added. “I made the same mistake, at first, but in reality, all someone would have had to do to open it would be to turn the knob and lift the door before opening it.”

“Since the doorknob was tampered with, and Naegi’s toolkit is unused, the culprit likely believed they were in a girl’s room,” Kirigiri finished.

“That would mean that they left to get a toolkit before coming back to finish the job,” Fujisaki said, shaking. “That wouldn’t be self defence anymore.”

“No, it wouldn’t be,” Enoshima agreed, and there was something in her voice that didn’t quite fit with the rest of it.

“The culprit attempted to incinerate this shirt,” Kirigiri said. “Not only that, but they would have had to activate the incinerator from a distance, and the only thing to do that with that we found was the broken crystal ball.”

Hagakure sniffed, taking a moment during the murder trial for his classmate to mourn his shattered glass.

“Aren’t those things about the size of a baseball?” Asahina asked.

“How would I know?” Kuwata asked. “I haven’t been paying attention to his fucking ba--”

“Yes, they are,” Kirigiri said.

“Well, it couldn’t’ve been me, still,” Kuwata said. “I haven’t used my toolkit at all!”

“Can we see?” Ogami asked.

“Uh,” Kuwata said, intellectually. “Well, I didn’t bring it, um, I didn’t think I’d… need…”

“Hey, Monokuma,” Enoshima said. “What would we have to do to get you to bring that toolkit?”

“Well,” Monokuma said. “If Kuwata were to ask me  _ really _ nicely, I might consider it.”

“Kuwata,” Enoshima said. “Ask the bear.”

“No,” Kuwata said.

“Ask the bear, Kuwata,” Owada said.

“He’s just gonna make me embarrass myself!” Kuwata protested.

“Embarrass--” Celeste said. Then, her demeanor shifted completely. “This is a  _ life or death _ situation, you  _ sniveling  _ pile of weevil husks! Ask the  _ damn _ bear to bring your  _ fucking _ toolkit!”

“If you don’t, we’ll have no choice but to conclude that you killed Maizono,” Togami said.

“I-- I--” Kuwata looked around the circle. “There’s no way I’d do that! Ask for your own toolkits!”

“Alright,” Owada said. “Hey, bear. Bring my toolkit.”

“Mine, too,” Togami said.

All the boys asked for their toolkits, with varying degrees of politeness. All the boys except Kuwata.

“He’s not making himself look good, is he?” Celeste leaned primly forward, smirking slightly.

Yamada sighed. “This is going nowhere.”

“Naegi,” Kirigiri said. “I think you may have the most complete knowledge of the sequence of events among us. Would you mind summarizing what happened leading up to Maizono’s murder, as we know them? It would help to make sure we haven’t missed anything.”

“R-Right,” Makoto said. Then, he took a deep breath and laid out the situation.

The evidence… when he lined it all up, and played the sequence of events it relayed in order, it-- Well, it wasn’t  _ damning, _ he would say, because he wasn’t really very good at this sort of thing, but it certainly didn’t look good for Kuwata, especially since the guy refused to ask for his toolkit as proof.

“If your discussion is  _ over, _ that means it’s time to vote!” Monokuma declared.

“Wait--” Kuwata started.

“Voting time~!” Monokuma chimed.

When the results were announced, Kuwata was facing execution.

The figure that was too, too reminiscent of Maizono stirred, straightening slightly and looking around. “What…?”

“I figured I’d bring you back to witness the death of your murderer,” Monokuma said. “After all, the only reason I didn’t wake you at the start was so that you couldn’t point to him.”

“I  _ knew _ it,” Kirigiri muttered.

“My-- Kuwata?” Maizono zeroed in on the baseballer.

“You started it!” Kuwata raised his arms defensively, despite the fact that Maizono was rooted to her position.

Maizono took a long, deep breath, or whatever approximated as such for robots. Then she spoke. “I’ll see you in hell, Kuwata, because we all know we’re both going to be there.”

“... Anyways,” Enoshima said. “Welcome back to the land of the living, Maizono. You know, uh, for now.”

Kirigiri cast a suspicious glance at her again, but said nothing.

“Anything else to say?” Monokuma asked, voice as saccharine and out of place as it had been since their arrival.

“You-- You can’t do this!” Kuwata protested.

“And  _ you _ can?” Maizono asked.

Kuwata would have protested further, but a collar snapped around his neck, dragging him backwards as a door opened, revealing a stake and a baseball machine.

“Don’t look,” Enoshima said, but they couldn’t just not look, because this was Kuwata, who had been part of their life since they’d come to this strange place, who they had considered a friend, and who was about to die.

So they watched.

They watched him die.

When he’d stopped moving, they began to trickle out of the trial room, one by one, until eventually it was only Makoto, Kirigiri, Enoshima, Maizono, and Monokuma.

“I had a question,” Kirigiri said. “There are-- were-- fifteen of us participants, right?”

“And what of it?” Monokuma chuckled.

“There are  _ sixteen _ places in this circle,” Kirigiri said. “Why?”

“Just to be prepared,” Monokuma said.

“Right…” She didn’t seem satisfied, but she didn’t push for more answers just yet. Instead, she wandered around the trial room, investigating everything.

Makoto didn’t try to participate. Instead, he slowly turned from Kuwata’s body, to face the robot that held all the remainder of Maizono’s personhood.

“Why?” He asked. “Why did-- How could--”

“I didn’t have a choice,” she said. “I’m sorry, Naegi. I really did mean everything I said.”

Makoto sighed, turning towards the elevator back to the school. “I think it’s gonna take a little while for me to fully forgive you,” he said. “I… I guess I’m just sort of numb right now.”

“I’m sorry,” Maizono said.

“Bye,” Makoto said. “If-- If we figure out an escape, I’ll try and come get you before we leave. You, too, Enoshima.”

“You’re a good guy, Naegi,” Enoshima said. “Until next time. Take care.”

“Take care,” Makoto said. He looked back at them, and managed a small, sad smile.


	2. Pink, Blue, and Silver-White

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in which I don't completely butcher DID as a concept /or/ Chihiro's trans narrative

“That bear…” Celeste twirled her hair casually around her fingers as the elevator descended once again. “How disgusting.”

“We haven’t even scratched the surface,” Kyoko said. “I can guarantee you that much.”

“I don’t doubt you,” Celeste said. “I’m almost curious, how far that goes.”

“Far enough.” Kyoko thought back to her investigation of Fujisaki’s body. Most of the class had grown up less sequestered than she had, easier to find details of their past to someone who was really looking. There was a possibility she hoped was untrue, when it came to Fujisaki’s secrets. Something like that… that was something she expected her classmate to know better than some stuffed toy.

She thought of the conversation she’d overheard between Naegi and Ogami. She thought of Owada’s strange behavior. A scene was coming together in her mind, and she couldn’t keep her eyes from narrowing at the biker’s back as the elevator released them into the trial room.

“New fit!” Monokuma declared as they emerged; indeed, the room looked almost completely different, except for the podiums and the robots standing behind them. “What do you think?”

“I don’t particularly care,” Togami said, voicing Kyoko’s thoughts on the matter succinctly. “Let’s get to it, shall we?”

“Yes,” Kyoko said, although she wasn’t really agreeing with him anymore. “Let’s get this over with.”

They took their positions.

Fukawa looked particularly downtrodden; Kyoko hadn’t really looked into her condition after she’d been returned to her room, but she could reasonably guess that it hadn’t been very good, seeing as Monokuma had had to collect her.

“Well, where do we want to begin?” Togami brushed his hands together brusquely. “I suggest--”

“We could ask the victim what she knows,” Celeste said.

Togami looked left at her in surprise and indignation, before turning right to look into Fujisaki’s face. 

“Hi,” she said.

“... Hello,” Togami said.

Kyoko almost snorted at the expression on his face, eyes visibly widened even from almost completely across the circle. “Fujisaki,” she said. “Your last memory update was at 10pm yesterday, right? Can you tell us what you were doing around that time?”

Fujisaki looked around the circle, starting to quiver. “I… I…” she muttered. “I wasn’t doing anything!”

“No one’s accusing you of pulling a Maizono,” Kuwata said. “You’re too smart for that.”

“Hey!” Maizono protested. “Things would’ve been  _ fine _ if  _ you’d  _ just  _ gone to bed _ after  _ breaking my-- _ ”

“We’re not here to talk about that,” Celeste said, waving them aside. “You’re  _ sure, _ Fujisaki? Nothing? Nothing at all?”

“I…” Fujisaki toyed with the collar of her shirt.

“Celeste,” Naegi said. “You told me you’d seen her getting a tracksuit from the warehouse, right?”

“That’s correct,” Celeste said.

Had she not been a robot, Fujisaki would have been sweating nervously. As it was, she was shaking like a leaf.

“Fujisaki,” Kyoko said slowly, the realization creeping up her spine with a chill. “Are you trying to protect the person who killed you?”

Fujisaki looked down and muttered something noncommittal.

There was a long silence.

“Why?” Owada asked finally, voice hoarse. “Why would you do that?”

Kyoko frowned as he said it; it wasn’t enough to knock him off her list of suspects entirely, but it certainly would have been odd behavior for the killer to exhibit.

“I just-- Please.” Fujisaki clasped her hands in front of her. “I know I have to stand here, but have this trial without me. I don’t want to be involved in this. Please. I’m dead, I shouldn’t have to do this to my friends anymore.”

“This is ridiculous,” Togami muttered.

“I understand,” Naegi said.

“In that case,” Kyoko said, trying to shake the unease that Fujisaki’s actions had brought on, “we should go over what we found at the crime scene.”

“The monokuma file said she died of blunt force trauma,” Ishimaru said.

“We found a dumbbell coated in blood at the scene,” Naegi pointed out. “That’s probably the murder weapon, right?”

“Most likely,” Kyoko agreed. Now that they were talking, how to bring up her suspicions…?

“She was suspended,” Celeste said. “Almost like a crucifixion.”

Fukawa was starting to look sick. Her note taking was slow.

“Yes,” Togami said. “The crime scene was remarkably similar to the scenes of the crimes committed by Genocider Sho.”

Silence rang through the room.

“You’re sure?” Asahina asked, voice shaking.

“He showed me the case files during the investigation,” Naegi said. “The situation was… remarkably similar.”

“Indeed I did,” Togami said. “And indeed it was; the scene of Fujisaki’s murder even contained elements known only to law enforcement and the killer himself.”

“Law enforcement, the killer, and you,” Enoshima said.

“Are you suggesting Togami’s Genocider Sho?” Hagakure gripped his podium nervously.

Next to Togami, Fujisaki leaned away while Celeste fixed him with a mildly curious gaze.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Naegi said. “Why would he go through all the trouble of showing me the case files if it was just going to get him killed?”

“Because he’s a dumb asshole,” Owada suggested.

“I’m not a--” Togami began.

“Oh, point,” Maizono interrupted.

“I’m  _ not _ Genocider Sho,” Togami said firmly. “But I know who  _ is. _ Right, Fukawa?”

Fukawa’s face drained of blood completely. Her handbook fell to the floor.

“Togami,” Ishimaru said. “You’re not suggesting--”

“Well, Fukawa?” Togami crossed his arms. “Tell the people what they deserve to know. Or perhaps-- show them?”

Fukawa looked desperately around at the circle of people, all eyes on her. Her body shook violently, and she continued to glance wildly around in fear.

Then, the stance changed. The shaking stopped. Fukawa looked around the circle one more time, completely calmly. She bent down and picked the handbook up from the floor.

“Hm,” the person standing before them said. “Those looks in your eyes; you’ve all been taken in by one of Jill’s jokes, haven’t you?”

“Excuse me?” Celeste cocked her head to the side.

Fukawa-- no, this person wasn’t the Fukawa they knew-- undid the twin braids and put their hair up into a quick bun. “Much better,” they said, and bowed slightly. “Damnit, we used to have a better way… Sorry for the confusion, everyone. My name is Jack. I am many things, but most importantly I am the Super High School Level Blademaster. For a time, I was investigating Sho’s crimes to prove to Touko that none of us had any involvement, but…”

Jack trailed off, eyeing Monokuma warily. Monokuma eyed them back.

“Forgive me if this is an intrusion, but…  _ just _ Jack?” Celeste asked. “Nothing more?”

Jack considered that. “I…  _ suppose _ you could still call me Fukawa, if it suits you better. Although, since that  _ is _ what you call Touko, it might be confusing if you called us  _ all _ that.”

“How many of you  _ are _ there?” Yamada asked.

“Just three,” Jack said. “Let’s get back to the matter at hand, hm? Unfortunately, a girl is dead.”

“That’s true, I am,” Fujisaki muttered.

“Why would Togami think you were a serial killer?” Kyoko asked. “He’s not the sort to come to that conclusion arbitrarily.”

“Jill’s sense of humor isn’t very funny,” Jack said. “She may have impersonated Touko for a ‘tearful’ confession, or considering the circumstances, Touko may have voiced her suspicions herself.”

“Nevertheless,” Togami said. “We can’t just dismiss the idea because you’re denying it  _ now, _ can we?”

Jack’s nose wrinkled in mild disgust, but they shrugged in acknowledgement. “Fine. Let’s prove it. Where shall we start? I doubt you’ll accept the fact that Jill would  _ never _ let either of us get away with using her fabric scissors as proof.”

“How about the writing on the wall behind the body?” Togami smirked, like he’d won something already.

“Proving whether or not Sho is the killer is a good place to begin,” Kyoko said. “So, yes, let’s continue discussing the crime scene.”

“Two birds with one stone,” Enoshima agreed. “So, more bloody writing? Sounds like Maizono’s area of expertise.”

“You write  _ one _ dying message…” Maizono muttered.

“The writing of ‘Bloodlust’ on the wall behind Fujisaki’s corpse is consistent with the rest of Sho’s murders,” Togami said. “It’s obvious to anyone with a brain that this murder was carried out by Genocider Sho herself.”

Kyoko considered that. “Naegi,” she said. “Were there any other aspects of Sho’s murders that were consistent with each other?”

“Um…” Naegi considered that.

“What about the weapon?” Jack prompted. “Or certain qualities of the victim?”

Naegi brightened. It was like the sun was shining through his face, and Kyoko’s eyes narrowed. “Oh yeah!” He snapped his fingers, too. “Genocider Sho always killed attractive young men with scissors, right?”

“That’s not consistent with  _ this  _ crime,” Celeste muttered.

“Don’t the sewing kits here all contain scissors?” Yamada asked nervously.

“But I had my skull bashed in,” Fujisaki said. “And I’m  _ not _ a young man.”

Yamada relaxed. “Right…”

“That shouldn’t be such a relief to you,” Enoshima said. “Blunt force trauma is a horrible way to go.”

“How would  _ you  _ even know that?” Owada asked.

Enoshima paused. “TV,” she said.

If she had been alive, Kyoko would have been suspecting her  _ so _ hard. Not necessarily of Fujisaki’s murder, but in general. This was out of hand, how  _ utterly _ suspicious Enoshima was.

“Back to the topic at hand,” Togami said. “It’s true that Sho may usually use specialized scissors to kill her targets, but in the absence of those scissors, is it hard to believe that she would improvise?”

“I doubt someone so particular would be willing to compromise so completely,” Jack said.

“I dunno,” Maizono said. “We’re talking about some crazy murder freak, right?”

“I’d put more money on horny than crazy,” Jack muttered. “Considering everything else…”

“You can’t just stereotype horny people like that,” Yamada said.

“Horny people have no rights,” Jack deadpanned.

Yamada gasped in offense.

“But you’ve no proof,” Togami said. “Have you, ‘blademaster’?”

“Neither do you,” Jack countered.

“Mm,” most everyone said. Several people waved their hands vaguely.

Jack sighed, and drooped. “We’re all gonna die here. You know, as opposed to anywhere else.”

“Are you all so defeatist in there?” Naegi asked.

“Media was priming you all to think people like us serial killers right up until the tr--”

“Ah ah ah!!” Monokuma jumped up, yelping loudly to cut Jack off. “That’s enough of that! We’ve got intrigue to maintain, you know! It’s part of the entertainment value.”

Jack crossed their arms and looked down their nose at the bear. “I’d think anyone being  _ entertained _ by this whole debacle would already know that part, don’t you?”

“I don’t care,” Monokuma said. “It’s fun to watch everyone else not know, so I’ll kill you if you tell. And then only Touko gets to be in the robot.”

Jack took a step back, although Kyoko couldn’t quite tell if their expression was terror or disgust. “You can  _ do _ that?”

“You wanna make a bet?” Monokuma extended his claws.

“I’ll… go without,” Jack decided.

There was a long moment of quiet.

“Moving on from that,” Kyoko said. “Fujisaki, I know you said you wanted us to have this conversation without you, but there…  _ was  _ something I wanted to ask about the scene of the crime, if you’re alright with it.”

She  _ knew. _ Fujisaki  _ knew _ what Kyoko was going to ask her.

Before she could respond, Celeste cut in. “It was the girls locker room, was it not? What’s so strange about that?”

“It means only someone with a girl’s handbook could’ve killed her, right?” Owada rubbed the back of his head. “So, that’s, uh…”

“Asahina, Ogami, Kirigiri, Fukawa and company, or myself,” Celeste said. “Hardly a good look for you, Jack.”

“Actually,” Ogami said. “Asahina and I were together last night. It couldn’t have been either of us.”

“Yeah!” Asahina nodded firmly. “We’re innocent!”

“Speaking of Ogami,” Naegi said. “There was something you said during the investigation that I wanted to ask her about again.”

“I thought we just stated her alibi,” Ishimaru said.

“It’s not that!” Naegi said hurriedly. “It’s just… Ogami, you said you spilled protein coffee on the mat in the girl’s locker room, right?”

“That’s correct,” Ogami allowed. “It seemed to have been cleaned up by the time the investigation started, however.”

“Yeah, that’s the thing,” Naegi said. “I hadn’t been in either locker room before today, so I checked out the boy’s locker room, too; there was a stain on the mat that could’ve been protein coffee.”

“What?” Asahina yelped. “Why would it be there? I  _ saw _ the spill happen in the  _ girl’s _ locker room!”

“The crime scene may have been moved,” Kyoko said, sending a silent thanks to Naegi for bringing the conversation to this point. “Fujisaki, I need you to be honest with me. Was your handbook accurate?”

“Of course it was!” Monokuma declared. “Our high tech, state of the art, painstakingly crafted--”

“N-No,” Fujisaki admitted. “It wasn’t.”

“Eh?” Monokuma and Enoshima said in unison.

“It wasn’t accurate!” Fujisaki said again. “And neither was that secret! That’s not it at all!”

“But-- But--” Monokuma sputtered.

“I-I’m a girl,” Fujisaki said. “You got it wrong, Monokuma.”

“What makes it all the more strange,” Kyoko said, withdrawing her own handbook and turning it over in her hands idly, “is how  _ mine _ was accurate, in that case.”

“In  _ any  _ case,” Celeste said, “that would change our pool of suspects drastically, yes?”

“We’ll have to establish how the killer reached her in the boy’s locker room  _ and _ moved her to the girl’s one afterwords,” Ogami said.

“As well as why they would imitate Sho’s crimes.”

“Maizono’s, Enoshima’s, and Kuwata’s handbooks were in the front hall,” Naegi said. “Oh, but Kuwata’s was broken, so the killer would've had to have already had a boy’s handbook.”

“I suppose the beating it took  _ would _ be enough to break it,” Kyoko allowed.

“Puh-lease,” Monokuma said. “A little beating may be enough to take down one of you kids, but your  _ handbooks _ are  _ much _ sturdier than you are.”

“And yet according to Naegi, one of them was broken, and neither of the ones that weren’t were Kuwata’s,” Togami mused.

“Since that includes him in a limited suspect pool, we can assume he’s being honest,” Kyoko said.

“Unless he’s  _ particularly _ stupid,” Celeste said pleasantly.

Naegi looked unsure of how to defend himself from that remark.

“To be honest, I think our biggest suspect is Togami,” Hagakure said. “I mean, considering…”

“Considering he marched us right towards Ms. Fukawa as the culprit, it certainly seems likely enough,” Yamada said.

“He also knew to check the girl’s locker room before we found the body,” Naegi said.

Jack blinked, and then the hair was down and the podium was leaned upon.

“My, how the tables have turned,” the person who must have been Jill chuckled. “You really tried to frame Sho, and  _ that _ shoddily? You’re lucky I was pulling your leg. I can’t  _ believe _ you took me  _ seriously! _ Oh, wait, yes I can; you’re the type. You think you’re  _ so _ cool, and you want everyone else to think so, too, so you can look down on them. I don’t know what Touko sees in you.”

“We can psychoanalyze Togami and make fun of him for it later,” Celeste said.

“It’s less fun if he’s not around for it,” Jill said. “And it’s  _ kinda _ looking like he’s gonna get executed in a few minutes.”

“We haven’t touched on all the evidence yet,” Naegi said. “But maybe we should vote anyways. I want to go back to bed.”

“We shouldn’t vote until we’ve gone over everything,” Kyoko said. “If it’s Togami, it’s Togami, but we should be sure.”

“You’re on your own,” Togami said.

“Not helping,” Kyoko sighed. “Figures. Well, Naegi, you mentioned more evidence. Would you mind telling us what specifically you had in mind?”

“Well, I found another broken handbook, besides Kuwata’s,” Naegi admitted. “It was in the sauna for some reason.”

“That  _ is _ fascinating,” Togami said.

Kyoko considered the trial up to that point. “Monokuma.”

“I don’t wanna talk to you,” Monokuma grumbled. “Accusing me of inaccuracies about my  _ own _ students--”

“You mentioned before that Kuwata’s handbook couldn’t have been destroyed by his execution,” Kyoko said. “What  _ could _ destroy a handbook?”

“Well, if I tell you that, you kids are gonna be destroying handbooks left and right!” Monokuma crossed his arms and turned away from the trial.

“N-No we won’t!” Naegi cut in. “They’re, uh,  _ way  _ too useful in our school lives! Right, guys?”

“We can’t reach the exercise equipment without them!” Asahina added.

The rest of the room didn’t say anything, although whether it was out of confusion or interest in the answer was anyone’s guess.

“I think, if you want this to be fair, you’re going to have to say,” Enoshima said. “You want this to be  _ fair, _ right Monokuma?”

Kyoko refrained from looking at her suspiciously. As suspicious as she found the other girl, she could wait to worry about that unless things got more overtly threatening.

Monokuma sighed. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll tell you. The handbooks are vulnerable to combinations of extreme heat and humidity.”

“That would explain why it was in the sauna,” Naegi said.

“No, it wouldn’t.” Kyoko waved her handbook slightly to grab the attention of her classmates. “Not until we know how someone figured that out before now.”

“You’re suggesting that the killer had unique knowledge in this regard?” Celeste put a hand to her chin.

An idea snapped together in Kyoko’s mind. “Yes,” she said. “But now that I think about it, there was something you mentioned earlier that I think might be the real key to finding the killer. Something the killer would have  _ almost _ unique knowledge of.”

“I hope I’m not suddenly back on the chopping block,” Celeste chuckled.

“Oh!” Naegi said, brightening. “Is this about Fujisaki’s tracksuit?”

Kyoko nodded.

“How’s that gonna help?” Hagakure asked.

“Because,” Kyoko said, shooting Fujisaki a silent plea not to interfere, “Fujisaki was planning to work out with someone, right? It’s likely that she selected her tracksuit to match theirs.”

Fujisaki didn’t hide her confusion, but she stayed  _ blessedly _ silent.

“Does… does that help?” Kuwata looked at Jill, who shrugged.

“It does,” Kyoko said confidently, “because knowing  _ that _ means we already know who the killer is.”

_ Please work please work please work please work please work please work please _

“You do  _ not _ ,” Togami snorted. Still, his eyebrows had climbed half his forehead, so he hadn’t  _ internally _ ruled it out. “How do you know what color the killer’s tracksuit was?”

“Kirigiri’s crazy smart,” Asahina said.

“Right,” Enoshima agreed. “I mean,  _ I _ wouldn’t put it past her to have figured it out.”

“Well, it’s obviously not me,” Owada said. “I mean, my tracksuit was black.”

“Oh, was it?” Celeste asked charmingly. “That’s a good color.”

Jill blinked. “Wait, what color was Fujisaki’s tracksuit again?”

Everyone stopped to consider that.

“It’s Owada, huh?” Maizono said.

“It  _ can’t _ be!” Ishimaru looked around the circle. “You don’t believe that, do you?”

“It was a good show, right up until the end,” Togami agreed.

Enoshima sighed. “You  _ fucking _ knew, didn’t you?”

“He’s not-- It’s-- It  _ has _ to be--” Ishimaru sputtered.

“I knew he moved the crime scene, at least.” Togami shrugged. “Not much of a reason to do that unless he killed her, considering he’s no appreciation for the finer points of a game.”

“God, you’re a  _ fucking _ asshole,” Enoshima groaned.

“Not very model-like language, is that, Enoshima?” Monokuma chided.

“Whatever,” Enoshima said. “I mean, it’s not like I’m on camera, right?”

Jill placed a hand on her own cheek, mouth dropping open. She likely had the same suspicions Kyoko did.

“And then  _ you _ set up the crime scene to look like it was Genocider Sho’s doing,” Naegi said. “You desecrated our friend’s body, and for what exactly? To make yourself look smart?”

“In my defense,” Togami said, “she was never supposed to know.”

“That’s… not really a good defense,” Owada said.

“I  _ really _ couldn’t care less about  _ your  _ opinion,” Togami informed him. “Besides, it’s not like you have any high ground to stand on.”

Owada winced.

“I can’t accept this!” Ishimaru insisted. “Mondo, you can’t let them just  _ say _ th--”

“I can,” Owada sighed.

“Mondo?” Ishimaru’s eyes were wide.

“I… confess,” Owada said.

There was a long pause.

“Well,” Monokuma said. “Shall we get to voting time?”

“Wait,” Fujisaki said. “Owada, um… before we get to whatever happens next, I-- I just wanted to say--”

“I’m sorry,” Owada said.

Fujisaki took a deep breath. “I don’t remember what happened,” she said, “and I don’t think it’ll change much when I do. I-- I know you, Owada. You’re my friend. I know-- You didn’t want to kill me. So much else is going on, I-- I don’t think I could’ve blamed anyone, but I certainly don’t blame you.”

“You should,” Owada snapped. “I hurt-- I  _ killed _ you! You should be mad! You should be  _ mad _ at me! I could  _ understand _ it if you were  _ mad _ at me, but-- but this--”

“But I’m not,” Fujisaki said. “And maybe that’s wrong of me, but I don’t think I  _ can _ be.”

“Fujisaki…”

Monokuma coughed. “Can we get to voting time  _ now _ ?”

“No!” Ishimaru said. “I-- I can’t-- I don’t want to--”

The cue chimed, signalling voting time had begun.

Kyoko gave Owada a brief, pitying glance as she voted for him.

The results were… about as expected, with a surprise vote for Ishimaru that probably came from himself.

The real horror was the execution.

Enoshima warned them again not to look, but Kyoko could not tear her eyes away, even as her stomach churned with every revolution, every flashing light, every sudden shift.

And then he was butter.

It would have been ridiculous if she wasn’t so sickened by it all.

She shook herself, and looked around at the others. They weren’t taking this much better.

  
Ishimaru and Fujisaki especially. It may have been some trick of the light, but the robot looked positively  _ green. _


	3. Just In Spirit

“I’m telling you, it  _ wasn’t _ me!” Hagakure protested again as they spilled out into the trial room.

Byakuya had to say, the shade of blue it had been done up in for this trial was particularly gaudy. He took his place behind his podium.

“No use denying it, we already know,” Asahina snapped.

“Not this again,” Enoshima muttered.

“I  _ couldn’t _ have done it,” Hagakure insisted.

“Obviously, someone  _ did _ ,” Ishimaru said. “It seems Yamada and I are  _ both _ dead, somehow. Does this have something to do with--”

“Enough of that,” Byakuya said quickly.

“Eh?” Monokuma said.

“I saw him carry off Yamada myself,” Celeste said. “I even have the picture-- and everyone saw him in that  _ ridiculous _ suit.”

“That’s true,” Jill allowed. “Still, he doesn’t seem competent enough to pull off something this complicated.”

“Hey,” Hagakure said.

“She’s defending you, you idiot,” Byakuya said. “Although, it’s possible your absolute idiocy has been an act this whole time.”

“No, no it’s not,” Jill said. “He’s really that dumb.”

“What makes you so sure?” Celeste cocked her head to the side curiously.

Jill glanced a little less than subtly at Monokuma. “I… have a knack for reading people,” she said.

“Should we ask the victims what they know?” Naegi asked. “I mean…”

“The last thing I remember is the turn of nighttime yesterday,” Yamada said. “We were all together then.”

“I’m afraid that’s true,” Ishimaru agreed. “I don’t think we’ll be able to shed much light on this situation.”

“That’s a shame,” Jill said. “Considering…”

“In that case,” Kirigiri said, “I think we should start by determining where that costume came from.”

“I think it’s pretty obvious that he made it,” Celeste said. “There were parts and blueprints in his room.”

“Since when?” Hagakure asked. “I didn’t make those!”

“Nevertheless, they  _ were _ there,” Byakuya said. “I saw them myself. So you’re going to need some pretty solid proof they had nothing to do with you if you want to get past this.”

“I-- I--” Hagakure sputtered.

Byakuya turned away from him, trying not to look too obviously at Naegi.

“I saw them too,” Naegi said, “but I don’t think Hagakure wrote them-- the handwriting was completely different from the note he used to call me to the dining hall before.”

“He could have disguised it,” Celeste said. 

“Is he  _ smart  _ enough to do that, though?” Kuwata asked.

“Look who's talking,” Maizono said.

“Hey!”

“He’s not,” Jill said, mostly to Naegi. “He’s not smart enough to do that. Look at him.”

“He’s really not,” Byakuya agreed.

“He was still in it,” Asahina said. “That’s pretty suspicious, right?”

“I woke up locked in that thing,” Hagakure said. “Someone drugged me!”

“Yet you have no proof,” Celeste said. “How unfortunate for you.”

“I don’t want to believe Hagakure killed me,” Ishimaru said.

“You don’t want to believe he  _ could _ ,” Jill said.

Hagakure crossed his arms. “Can we get Jack or Fukawa back out here? Someone who  _ won’t _ bully me?”

“That’s not our top priority,” Kirigiri said.

“Right,” Byakuya said. “At this point, there’s enough plausible deniability as to whether Hagakure was conscious at the time that it might be easier to disprove any other option than to prove that either way.”

“That’ll be a while,” Owada muttered.

“We’re not in a hurry,” Kirigiri said. “We have to do this right, not quickly.”

“It’d be nice if something could be  _ both _ for once,” Asahina sighed.

“If it’s not too much trouble,” Yamada said, “could someone summarize what happened for those of us who, ah, don’t know?”

“Right,” Hagakure said. “Maybe then one of you can point out how I can’t possibly be the killer!”

“I believe this will simply make it clear that you are,” Celeste said.

“Ogami, Naegi, Asahina, and I were the only attendees to breakfast this morning,” Kirigiri said. “We stayed there for a while, waiting for others to show up.”

“About an hour,” Ogami agreed. “We assumed Ishimaru and Yamada had gone on ahead to…” she glanced at Monokuma, “search for something that had gone missing from the changing room the evening before, and we knew Togami and Fukawa were unlikely to show up regardless, but that still left Celeste and Hagakure unaccounted for.”

“After that hour, we went looking for them,” Asahina added. “I found Celeste waking up in the rec room, since she--”

“I’d been attacked about an hour before,” Celeste cut in. “I was unconscious that whole time. My attacker left behind his weapon, however-- ‘Justice Hammer No. 1’.”

“Asahina cried out when she found Celeste,” Naegi continued. “Ogami and I came running, but Kirigiri was gone by then. Celeste showed the three of us a photo she’d taken of her attacker dragging Yamada away, so we started looking for him.”

Byakuya’s eyes narrowed.

“We found him in the library, dazed from his own assault,” Celeste said. “‘Justice Hammer No. 2’ was there, as well.”

“Dazed?” Ishimaru asked. “It… Wouldn’t it make more sense just to kill him? Or you-- leaving all these clues behind seems short-sighted.”

“It does,” Kirigiri agreed.

“Where… were you, anyways?” Asahina asked.

“That’s not important,” Kirigiri said.

“I… feel like it’s a little bit important.” Enoshima crossed her arms.

“Touko and Togami met the others at the library around that time,” Jack said, tying up their hair. “Then, everyone left Yamada in the nurse’s office to go find-- what was it he called the attacker? ‘Robo Justice’?”

“Yeah,” Naegi said.

“Why that?” Hagakure asked.

“Between the robotic design, the ‘Justice Hammers’, and the ‘R’ and ‘J’ on each shoulder, it’s not that much of a leap,” Celeste said. “Not to mention his… active imagination.”

“It’s still a dumb name, though,” Owada said.

“It sounds… almost intentionally cheesy,” Yamada mused. “I wonder why I would call someone so obviously dangerous something like that.”

“So everyone else went looking for the attacker then,” Kirigiri said. “What happened then?”

“I saw him on the third floor,” Celeste said. “So I cried out to alert the others, and he ran further down the hallway.”

“Ah,” Kirigiri said. “That was  _ then. _ I heard that.”

“Why didn’t you come see what was going on?” Asahina’s eyes narrowed.

“I was busy,” Kirigiri said. “Besides, you had it handled.”

“Yeah, largely,” Naegi allowed. “We all went to Celeste, who told us what happened, but before we could pursue, we heard Yamada cry out from the first floor.”

“I heard  _ that, _ too,” Kirigiri said. “But why would he yell? The attacker was established to be on the third floor, weren’t they? And with the rest of you all together…”

“Where were you, again?” Celeste asked idly.

“As I said, I was busy,” Kirigiri said.

“Suspicious,” Maizono said.

“We can try and get Kirigiri to explain her own actions when it won’t disrupt the details on the main sequence of events,” Ishimaru said. “Someone, please continue.”

“We split up,” Ogami said. “Togami, Fukawa, and I went to pursue Robo Justice, and Asahina, Naegi, and Celeste went to check on Yamada. When we entered the equipment room, we found…”

“Your corpse,” Byakuya said, looking directly at Ishimaru.

“Ah,” Ishimaru said.

“The body discovery announcement played, and Fukawa passed out,” Ogami said.

“Around that time, we found Yamada in the nurse’s office,” Asahina said. “He-- He was--”

“He’d been murdered as well,” Celeste said.

“And he’d let out a dying scream,” Kirigiri said.

“Yes,” Celeste agreed.

“While Robo Justice was, by your account, on the third floor,” Kirigiri said.

There was long silence.

“I think I’m going to have to ask again where  _ you _ were,” Celeste said. “Monokuma  _ did _ say we were looking for whoever  _ masterminded _ today’s events, did he not?”

“I  _ did _ say that,” Monokuma said.

“We’ll get to why it’s not me in a minute,” Kirigiri said. “What happened after the first body discovery announcement?”

“I ran to tell the others we’d found Yamada,” Naegi said. “That was when I saw Ishimaru, too.”

“He told us Yamada had been murdered, accounting for ‘Justice Hammer No. 3’, while Ishimaru had been killed with the fourth one,” Byakuya said. “We were on our way to see Yamada’s corpse when Celeste and Asahina arrived to tell us it had gone missing.”

“I’d been feeling poorly, so Celeste took me to the bathroom,” Asahina said. “And he was gone when we came back-- we were only gone for a few minutes!”

“Hearing that, we rushed back to where we’d left Ishimaru and Fukawa,” Ogami said.

“Jill had woken up by then,” Jack said, checking the notes on the handbook. “I don’t believe she or I saw Ishimaru’s corpse in person.”

“So  _ he _ disappeared as well,” Yamada muttered.

“What is that tone meant to imply?” Ishimaru asked.

“Clearly, he was only faking dead, while an accomplice ensured his ‘body’ would be discovered at the same time as my own, after which he would disappear us both!” Yamada declared. “Later on, his accomplice must have betrayed him, of course, but there is no doubt in my mind that this is what happened!”

Byakuya glanced at where Monokuma was reading through a user’s manual on his weird little throne thing.

“An interesting theory,” Kirigiri said. “We’ll have to get back to that later. Naegi, what did you do then?”

“Uh,” Naegi said. “Well, at that point we split up to search for the bodies. Pretty soon, Celeste found them in the repository, and brought all of us to see them, at which point the second body discovery announcement went off.”

“Yamada miraculously regained consciousness long enough to tell us that his killer was ‘Yasuhiro’,” Celeste added. “That alone would be damning, but with everything else…”

“I’m telling you, I didn’t do it!” Hagakure protested.

“To call Mr. Hagakure ‘Yasuhiro’,” Yamada said. “That doesn’t sound like something I’d do. Unless I developed DID in my final moments, heh--”

“That’s not how that works,” Jack said coldly.

“Sorry!”

“That would have been around the time I found Hagakure,” Kirigiri said. “I came and got the rest of you as soon as I did; it seemed like the sort of thing you all should know.”

“You do realize, of course, that you and Hagakure Yasuhiro are the two most suspicious individuals in this room, and it’s very likely that there was, in fact, an accomplice in this situation.” Celeste folded her hands in front of her.

“Of course,” Kirigiri said.

“Actually, I’d say the  _ most _ suspicious person would be the one that gave us self-contradictory information,” Byakuya said. “Suspicious as she is,  _ that _ person isn’t Kirigiri.”

“‘Self-contradictory’ information?” Owada asked.

“Like how Kuwata said he killed me in self defense, but--”

“This  _ isn’t _ about that!”

“Celeste,” Naegi said. “When did you say you took that picture? Can you go over that part again in a little more detail?”

“I took that picture as Robo Justice dragged Yamada away,” Celeste said.

“Did you attempt to pursue them at all?” Ishimaru asked.

“No,” Celeste said, starting to get annoyed. “I was unfortunately unable to do that, as I got knocked out by a hammer.”

“So,” Kirigiri said, “Robo Justice started dragging Yamada away, you snapped the picture, and…”

“He-- He saw me take the picture and attacked me,” Celeste said.

“And he  _ didn’t _ erase the picture,” Enoshima said.

“Or break the camera,” Jack added.

“He’s an idiot,” Celeste said, gesturing at Hagakure.

“He might not have been able to bend down to pick it up,” Asahina said. “I mean, the back on that suit was pretty stiff.”

“So he couldn’t stomp on it,” Jack said.

“If he couldn’t bend down, how would he have moved the bodies?” Naegi tapped his chin. “He’d’ve had to pick Yamada up, and I’m pretty sure Ishimaru was moved with the dolly cart-- It was in the equipment room when his body was found there, and the repository when it appeared  _ there _ later. The easiest way to move that is to bend down and pull it.”

“Kirigiri was running around unsupervised,” Celeste said. “She could have worked the latch for him so he could get in and out of the suit.”

“I was unconscious the whole time,” Hagakure said. “I  _ wasn’t _ running around attacking people.”

“There was something else I was hoping to get clarified, while you’re all focused on me,” Kirigiri said. “Earlier, Celeste mentioned she saw Robo Justice on the third floor. She screamed, and he fled further into the floor before you all arrived. Then Yamada yelled from the first floor, and you split into two groups-- one to hunt Robo Justice, and one to check on Yamada. I’m not mistaken so far?”

“No,” Naegi said.

Kirigiri tapped her chin. “Who suggested you split up?”

“Celeste, I believe,” Ogami said.

“Alright,” Kirigiri said. “And when you found Ishimaru’s body where Robo Justice  _ should _ have been cornered, was there any sign of the Justice himself?”

“There was a hammer,” Byakuya said, “but no Robo Justice.”

“He must have slipped past you,” Jack muttered.

“In  _ that _ ?” Kirigiri asked.

Jack paused. “Shit, you’re right, there’s no way.”

“And-- at the same time-- Yamada was killed downstairs,” Kirigiri said.

“That could’ve been you,” Celeste said.

“Thank you for speaking up, Celeste,” Kirigiri said. “There was actually something I wanted to ask you.”

“Oh?”

“Why do you think it is that only you and Yamada encountered Robo Justice during this whole ordeal?”

“Kiyotaka, too,” Owada said.

“He was dead before he could testify, he doesn’t count,” Byakuya said.

“Hey,” Ishimaru said.

“I would  _ assume _ that particular bit is a result of poor fortune,” Celeste said. “Besides, he  _ said _ his killer’s name, didn’t he?”

“I’m quite sure I would never have referred to Mr. Hagakure so informally,” Yamada said.

“Well, we  _ all _ heard it,” Celeste insisted.

“That…  _ is _ true,” Asahina allowed.

“Assuming, of course, that ‘Yasuhiro’ isn’t the  _ surname  _ of someone here,” Kirigiri said. “Which…  _ would _ be possible.”

“But… we  _ know _ everyone’s surnames, don’t we?” Fujisaki asked. “I mean… we all introduced ourselves.”

“Not  _ everyone  _ was completely honest back then,” Byakuya said. “I mean, there is no way a Japanese girl’s  _ real _ name is  _ Ludenburg, _ is there?”

“I told you before,” Celeste said tersely. “My parents are German and French.”

Byakuya and Kirigiri exchanged a suffering look.

“Well, then,” Kirigiri said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “You wouldn’t mind booting up your handbook and showing Togami what it says, just to get us off this topic, would you? If you’re telling the truth about your name--”

“That’s an invasion of privacy,” Celeste said. “Besides,  _ you’re _ the suspicious one.”

“I’m not providing any more details on any of my activities until you prove your name,” Kirigiri said. “I’m not suggesting he go through the handbook-- simply let him see the screen as it turns on.”

“Hiding your location during multiple attacks is  _ incredibly _ suspicious--”

“And I’ll say when you confirm your name,” Kirigiri said. “Ordinarily, I would consider your word the highest authority on the subject, but unfortunately, if there’s  _ anything else _ Yamada might have called you for  _ any reason, _ we  _ need _ to know.”

Jack looked at Monokuma. Monokuma shook his head. Jack sighed. “She’s not gonna give up, Celeste. Please? Just so we can move on?”

Celeste paused. “You-- You  _ know. You _ already know. How?”

“Um, what?” Hagakure said.

“I’m lost, too,” Kuwata said.

Jack staggered in place, and then Fukawa started putting her hair back into her braids. “Sheesh, drag  _ me _ back out, and everyone’s  _ st-staring _ at m-me, and--”

“You three know more than you should,” Celeste said. “I know for a  _ fact _ I never told any of you  _ that, _ how did--”

“What are you talking about?” Fukawa blinked in genuine confusion. “I-I-I don’t know any more than anyone else!”

“Fukawa,” Ogami said. “I  _ do _ believe you should share with us.”

“Oh,  _ she _ doesn’t know anything!” Monokuma said. “There were a few… unforeseen complications, regarding Jack and Jill, and by the time we noticed them, it would’ve been too much interference to try and remedy them, so those two just have an understanding that they and anyone else who finds out what they know before the grand reveal  _ will _ be executed accordingly. But Fukawa Touko? Completely oblivious, just like the rest of you.”

“I hate everything about that,” Hagakure said.

“In any case, I believe that  _ was _ an admission that there was some secret there,” Byakuya said.

Celeste sighed. “Yes,” she said. “My-- My  _ real _ name is… Yasuhiro Taeko.”

“That was surprisingly painless,” Maizono said.

“I try not to prolong my losses,” Celeste said, accent slipping away. “It’s… unfortunate.”

“Well… we know who killed Yamada, now,” Ishimaru said. “And-- And Celeste isn’t the type to be in someone else’s plan, so she’s likely the mastermind, but…”

“Oh, Yamada was my accomplice,” Celeste said. “I said some rather unkind things about you, and framed you for stealing… a certain something, to get him to cooperate, but really, it was quite easy.”

“What?” Ishimaru stiffened. “You were-- You stole--”

“Yes,” Celeste said. “It’s funny, really-- his big idea for what  _ you _ may have done as an accomplice was actually exactly what  _ he _ did.”

“How  _ could _ you?” Yamada said, horrified.

“Quite easily,” Celeste said.

“She  _ is _ pretty self centered,” Owada said.

“I had a dream,” Celeste said. “I wasn’t going to give up on that for a bunch of near strangers.”

Enoshima looked away from her.

“In that case,” Monokuma said. “It’s voting time!”

The living cast their votes and the dead waiting for the results, as before. They were not surprising results, just like they hadn’t been surprising the last two times this had happened.

“That plan was… remarkably clumsy, for someone like you,” Kirigiri said.

“I suppose I was desperate,” Celeste said. Then, she stuck her hand out. “I suppose everyone else here should be glad you’re so level-headed, hm?”

Kirigiri hesitated, but took the other girl’s hand. “Thank you.”

Celeste leaned in for a moment, whispering something in Kirigiri’s ear. Then, she stepped away, retrieving her hand and letting herself be marched off to her execution.

Byakuya did not shield his face from the flames that rose around Celeste during her execution. He did not look away as the firetruck careened from nowhere and slammed into her, spewing water to extinguish the flames.

Togami Byakuya was strong; he’d had to be, to get anywhere in his life.

He did not feel anything for the loss of his classmate.

None of these people were anything to him.

None of them.

None.

Really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Byakuya: I'll have you know I have very high standards for what I consider to be worth my time, energy, and attention  
> Class 78: *exists*  
> Byakuya: oh no, they're meeting all of my standards


	4. Confessions To and Fro

“This is the  _ second _ time, you guys, seriously?” Hagakure groaned.

“Well, maybe if you weren’t so suspicious, this wouldn’t keep happening to you,” Togami said.

“Y-Yeah,” Fukawa agreed.

The elevator stopped, and everyone stepped out.

“The cultural appropriation… unreal levels,” Hagakure muttered, looking around at the trial room. There were hieroglyphs and menorahs adorning the walls.

“How… inappropriate,” Togami agreed.

Aoi’s hand in her pocket trembled as she clutched the paper of Sakura’s suicide note. Taking note of the decor so casually, even though…

“Ogami’s not moving,” Naegi said, looking at her robotic form.

“So she would have known something.” Kirigiri tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Likely, whatever she knows, Asahina would know it, too, right? You two were close.”

Aoi swallowed her rage, a little. She knew what she had to do. It was surreal, in a way, knowing she was going to die today. Like she was walking through a world of putty.

“I know… she was going to meet with Hagakure, Fukawa, and Togami,” Aoi said. “One of them  _ has _ to have done it!”

“I didn’t go!” Hagakure insisted.

“N-Neither did I!” Fukawa agreed.

“Well,  _ I _ certainly didn’t.” Togami folded his arms, looking at Aoi suspiciously.

Good. Let him suspect her. Let him vote for her. Let him go to hell with her and everyone else.

“If we’re going to narrow our suspect pool to those three, one of them must be lying,” Celeste said. She’d put her accent back on. It must have made her more comfortable. “Togami  _ seems  _ the most sincere, but we know him to be the most capable liar, as well.”

“I think Fukawa’s the most likely capable, myself,” Enoshima said. “Or…  _ Jack, _ more specifically.”

“See?” Hagakure pointed around the circle. “It’s not me!”

“You had evidence tying you to the scene, though,” Naegi said.

“What?” Hagakure nearly collapsed. “No I don’t! What the hell, Naegi?”

Naegi flinched, but didn’t back down. “That candy wrapper… it was from the candies Sakura had. They were at the scene, and she had the only ones.”

“I-- I got it before that!” Hagakure insisted.

“When?” Aoi asked, knowing full well he was talking out of his ass.

“Uh,” he said intellectually. “After breakfast this morning?”

“She didn’t have them then,” Aoi said. “I gave them to her after my fight with Jack.”

Fukawa quickly scrolled through the notes in her handbook. “You’re-- You’re alright, though, right?”

“My best friend has been fucking murdered, so no,” Aoi said. “Your knife-wielding other personality didn’t physically injure me, though.”

There was a long, tense silence.

“That was unnecessary,” Owada said finally.

“Cry about it,” Aoi said.

“Oh, I will,” Fukawa assured her.

“We’re getting off topic,” Kirigiri said. “Hagakure, we’re going to need you to be honest about when you got that candy. It could be critical to the investigation.”

“This is unreal,” Hagakure muttered.

“This is  _ unbearably _ real,” Togami corrected.

“Next we’ll be cross-examining a parrot,” Yamada said.

Kirigiri shook her head. “If there had been one at the scene, absolutely. But no. Hagakure?”

“I-- I-- I got it when we found the body,” Hagakure said.

“You saw a dead girl and decided to  _ loot her candy _ ,” Kuwata said, dumbfounded.

“That’s fucked up,” Owada said.

“He didn’t have the chance,” Togami said. “Asahina didn’t let him  _ near _ the body. She barely let  _ me _ examine the  _ room _ the crime took place in.”

“No, I totally got it then!” Hagakure crossed his arms. “And I saw that dying message, too, so I don’t know why we’re all so focused on me! It’s obviously Fukawa!”

“What?” Fukawa’s handbook fell from her hands, and she had to take a moment to pick it back up. “It wasn’t me!”

Togami raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

Fukawa hesitated, and sighed. “It wasn’t  _ me. _ I… I can’t account for Jack or Jill. If either of  _ them  _ did it, they didn’t write it down.”

“You don’t… remember?” Maizono looked at her curiously.

“No, we’re completely distinct,” Fukawa said.

“I, uh… I have a question for Hagakure,” Naegi said.

“Why?” Hagakure said. “I mean, that dying message--”

“Yeah, about that,” Naegi interrupted. “How did you see it?”

“It was on the table--”

“No it wasn’t,” Kirigiri said. “By the time we found the body, the magazine that ‘dying message’ had been written in was closed and on the rack.”

“So it was definitely Hagakure who wrote it,” Aoi cut in. “It’s the only way he would’ve known about it. Which means he’s gotta be the killer! Let’s vote!”

“Wait,” Kirigiri said.

Hagakure sighed. “Yeah, it’s gotta be me.”

“Wait,” Kirigiri said, more forcefully. “Tell us what happened.”

“We know it’s him,” Aoi said. “He even admitted it!”

“That’s about as solid as evidence comes,” Ishimaru said.

“We know he believes he did it,” Kirigiri said. “I want to hear what happened before I make a decision.”

“I was hoping to finish this quickly for once,” Fukawa muttered.

“We’re not in a hurry,” Enoshima said. “I, for one, like being active, and there’s not a time limit.”

“If he’s really the killer, there shouldn’t be a problem in letting him go over the details of his crime for us,” Togami said.

Aoi tensed, anger coursing through her veins. He  _ knew. _ He knew Hagakure wasn’t the killer, and Fukawa and Jack and Jill weren’t, either. He was  _ toying _ with her.

She wondered if this had been how Owada and Celeste had felt, when he’d been gearing up to use  _ them _ as props to make himself look  _ oh so smart. _

She couldn’t ask, now, because then she might ruin  _ everything. _ But  _ damn _ was it tempting to spill the whole thing just so  _ he _ couldn’t.

He smiled a little, at her, the  _ bastard. _

“Well,” Hagakure said. “I decided to head out early. Scope the place out a little, you know? I saw Fukawa go into the room, so I figured it’d be alright, but when I went in she wasn’t there.”

“I see,” Togami said.

“Then what happened?” Naegi asked. He sounded so nice and encouraging, Aoi almost wanted to be sick.

“Ogre came in.” Hagakure shifted uneasily. “She told me to have a candy while we waited for the others, but… while we were waiting, I heard her mutter something. I thought she was going to kill me, so I-- I panicked. I smashed one of those bottles over her head, and she collapsed, I--”

“You killed her,” Aoi said. “How could--”

“Then what happened?” Kirigiri stuck her hand out, silencing Aoi.

“I forged the dying message and ran off,” Hagakure said. “... Why are you looking at me like something doesn’t add up?”

“Because several things don’t,” Togami said.

“Right,” Naegi said. “The Monokuma file said she’d vomited blood, and I can’t see why being hit on the head would make her do that.”

“In your story, you only hit her once, which doesn’t line up with my examination,” Kirigiri added. “Not to mention, that doesn’t explain why the door was blocked when Asahina brought Naegi and I up.”

“Finally,” Togami said. “If you forged the dying message, why would the magazine you left it in be upside down in the magazine rack?”

Everyone considered these things.

“So it’s not him,” Fujisaki said finally. “It can’t be. There are too many holes.”

“Hey, you’re right!” Hagakure said, brightening. “But, then… who  _ was _ it?”

“Well,” Naegi said, “where did you leave the magazine? If it wasn’t on the rack, it must have been put there after you left.”

“Whoever moved it must have had a reason they didn’t want it to be seen,” Yamada said. “Um… What was that dying message, again?”

“‘Fukawa’,” Hagakure said. “So Fukawa must’ve done it. I can’t think of anyone else who would’ve moved it like that.”

“You  _ did _ say you saw her enter the room,” Kirigiri said.

Fukawa was typing notes into her student handbook very quickly.

“Are you planning on leaving one of the others to deal with this for you?” Togami looked at her imperiously. “Rather poor form, isn’t it?”

She froze.

“Fukawa,” Naegi said. “What happened after you entered the room?”

“I hid in the locker,” Fukawa said. “I saw everything that happened with Ogami and Hagakure, so I went to put the magazine away so no one could find it.”

“Upside down,” Celeste said.

“I-I was in a hurry!” Fukawa’s face flushed with embarrassment. “A-Anyways, when I turned around she-- she was-- she-- she was right there!”

“So you panicked,” Togami finished.

“She was right there, and covered in blood,” Fukawa said. “I passed out, and later I came to in my room.”

“So, the question is, which of the other two woke up to see Ogami covered in blood?” Owada rubbed the back of his neck. “Shit, how are we supposed to figure this out?”

“The last two times this has happened, it was Jill who came out from it,” Togami said.

“It might be different if Fukawa thought there was an active danger,” Kirigiri said. “That sort of thing might call the Blademaster to the front.”

“Sakura wouldn’t have hurt her!” Aoi snapped.

“You’re right,” Kirigiri said. “Or at the very least, I’m confident enough to stake a reasonable claim on you being right. But Fukawa, Jack, and Jill weren’t.”

Jack tucked the handbook under their arm and started putting their hair up. “She’s right. It’s been a very emotional few days, and I hate to admit it, but I panicked when I woke up. Touko says you’re looking at us, so I may as well be honest about it; I woke up, panicked, hit her with one of those bottles, and ran. I-- I didn’t think that would actually  _ kill _ her.”

“It probably didn’t,” Kirigiri said. “If you’re telling the truth, that still leaves us without an explanation for several aspects of the scene.”

“Like the chair under the door,” Naegi agreed. “Or her vomiting blood. Or the protein drink.”

“Or where she was sitting,” Kirigiri finished.

Despite herself, Aoi was starting to sweat with nerves. They were getting too close to figuring it out.

Idea.

“How do we know they didn’t just… hide in the locker again?” Aoi asked. “Stick the chair under the door and wait to rejoin us later?”

“Because Fukawa was with me when you came and dragged us to the body,” Togami said. “You are  _ really _ not cut out for this, you know that?”

“Give her a break, her best friend died, like, two hours ago,” Enoshima said.

“So, it wasn’t Hagakure, and it wasn’t Fukawa and them,” Naegi said. “Do we have any other ideas?”

“We might want to try considering the poison angle now,” Togami said.

“Poison,” Ishimaru said.

Celeste raised an eyebrow. “There’s evidence of poison, and you didn’t bring this up earlier because…?”

“We were discussing other things, and it seemed prudent to establish a timeline of events,” Togami said.

Owada snorted incredulously.

“The evidence of poison…” Kirigiri said. “The protein cup?”

“There’s also a lot of spilled powder in the chemistry lab,” Naegi said. “Someone left footprints in it.”

“Someone in sneakers,” Togami agreed. “And since I already made Naegi check  _ his _ shoes against them, there’s only one other person with sneakers.”

“How do you…  _ know _ they’re sneakers?” Maizono asked.

“The marks from the sole, not to mention the overall shape,” Togami said dismissively. “What, you think  _ I _ would be saying it if I wasn’t sure?”

“You’re accusing Asahina,” Jack said.

“Yes, I am,” Togami said.

Aoi took a long, deep breath, drawing all her tears from finding Sakura’s body back to the surface. “How  _ could _ you?” She cried, pointing at him as she finally allowed those tears to fall. “How could you  _ say _ that?”

“The evidence points to it,” Togami said. “You poisoned her-- swapped her protein for something much deadlier so she’d drink it right down.  _ She _ would certainly never suspect you, and you figured the rest of us wouldn’t, either, but you made  _ one fatal mistake _ when you left those footprints behind.”

“I-- I--” Aoi stuttered. Her tears were starting to overtake her, her throat constricting until she could hardly breathe and vision blurring into obscurity. She  _ had _ to get through this. She had to be unconvincing, but not obviously so.

“I’d ask how you could say that, but you’ve shown a  _ clear _ lack of giving a shit about anyone’s feelings,” Kuwata said.

“Fucking asshole,” Owada muttered in agreement.

“Well, if anyone has a  _ better _ explanation, they can feel free to share it,” Togami said.

“I’m afraid I was too busy with the body,” Kirigiri said. “I didn’t investigate the chemistry lab.”

“I did,” Naegi said.

“Can you tell me about the scene inside?”

“I drew a picture,” Naegi said, digging in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a piece of paper. “Togami made me do it, but it might be useful now. Here, can we pass that around?”

Maizono, Ishimaru, and Enoshima passed the paper along, Enoshima leaning around the unmoving shape of Sakura’s robot to hand it to Kirigiri.

Kirigiri looked at it for a long moment. “Right,” she said. “There are a few things to go over with this.”

“What do you mean, ‘a few things’?” Togami snapped. “I already  _ told _ you the answer.”

“Technically--” Jack tried to cut in.

“What, it’s not good enough for you because it’s out of  _ my _ mouth, body prodder?”

Several people covered their mouths.

“I mean ‘a few things’,” Kirigiri said. “To begin with-- Asahina. Do you deny Togami’s accusation?”

“I mean,” Hagakure said. “Jack and I confessed, and we didn’t even do it, so if you did--”

“Fine,” Aoi said. “Fine. I did it.”

There was no evidence to prove her a liar, she was sure. Kirigiri would  _ have _ to accept that, and then they’d move onto the vote, and--

“Can you go over the path you took when collecting the poison?” Kirigiri didn’t look up from the paper in her hands.

“I, uh,” Aoi said, “I grabbed it from the poison shelf and left. I guess I must’ve knocked something over while I was doing that.”

“Mhm,” Kirigiri said. “And  _ which _ shelf is the poison shelf?”

“Shelf… C?” Aoi squeaked.

“Mhm,” Kirigiri said again, shooting Togami a look. Togami was starting to look uncertain. “And then what did you do?”

“I put it into the cup she’d been drinking protein from,” Aoi said quietly. “And she sat down and drank it, and-- and she--”

“Mhm,” Kirigiri said again. “Tell me, Asahina-- How did you block the door?”

_ No no no no no no no no no no no no no no-- _

“I-- I just--” Her mind flailed wildly, trying to find a method she could have used. Or maybe her own sense of self preservation was working against her. Either way, she couldn’t find anything.

“Furthermore,” Kirigiri said. “How did you avoid getting whatever you spilled--”

“Yellow powder,” Naegi provided.

“-- on your shoes, yes, thank you for confirming that Naegi, and why did your footprints lead to and from Shelf A?”

“Are you saying my deductions were wrong?” Togami asked, offended.

“It happens to everyone,” Hagakure reassured him.

“No, it happens to  _ you _ ,” Togami said.

“She is simply asking our classmate some questions,” Ishimaru said.

“Yes, Togami,” Kirigiri said. “I am asking our classmate some questions. It’s quite the fascinating experience. You should try it sometime.”

Jack and Enoshima shared a look of astonished glee.

“Get Jill out here,” Enoshima said. “She’ll love this.”

“Oh, she’s going to hate having missed it,” Jack said, taking rapid notes. “Kirigiri roasts are always worth catching.”

Kuwata turned to them. “How do you--”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jack said. “You’ll know when you know.”

“Wow, that is the  _ opposite _ of helpful,” Kuwata said.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Kirigiri said. “If you have any explanations for these inconsistencies, Togami, you’re welcome to share them, too. Since you’re so confident in your deductions, I can’t imagine you would have missed these.”

Aoi bit back a sigh of relief. Togami would damn them all to try and look intelligent.

“Ogami was… definitely poisoned,” Togami said. “I have the bottle Asahina swapped the protein into with me-- there’s no one else Ogami would have trusted with anything she’d drink, it  _ has _ to have been her.”

“Let me see the bottle,” Kirigiri said. “Feel free to keep telling us how right you are while I look at it.”

Togami passed the bottle to Fujisaki. “Unless you have another suspect, it’s pretty clear who the killer is.”

Aoi reached across the gap, taking the bottle from Hagakure, and handed it to Owada.

“We’ve gone over the events surrounding everything in the Monokuma file, and unless there’s something  _ else _ that popped up in your investigation--”

Kirigiri took the bottle from Owada, briefly read the label, and started pouring the contents out into her hand.

“Just  _ what _ do you think  _ you’re _ doing?” Monokuma demanded. “Someone has to clean up this trial room when you kids leave, you know.”

“I’m investigating,” Kirigiri said as a piece of blue glass fell into the pile of powder in her palm. “Oh, I see. That makes a lot more sense.”

“What?” Togami’s eyes narrowed.

“It’s as I told Naegi before; there are four kinds of locked room mystery,” Kirigiri said. “The first is when the killer uses a mechanism to seal the room after they’ve left. The second is when they somehow commit the murder from outside the sealed room. The third, which only really happens in fiction, is when the room somehow actually isn’t locked. And the fourth is when the killer doesn’t actually leave the room.”

“That… doesn’t actually help us understand what the hell you’re talking about,” Owada said.

“We were operating under the assumption that this was the first or second kind,” Kirigiri said. “After all, everyone alive was demonstrably  _ outside _ the room when the body was discovered.”

Aoi was starting to shake. She couldn’t help it. “What are you saying?”

“Togami, this bottle-- it was in the chemistry lab?”

“Yes.”

“It wouldn’t have  _ ever _ been in the room where she died.”

“No. The contents are completely harmless, and no one had the opportunity to move it.”

“Mm, not quite no one,” Kirigiri said. “The accomplice the killer never wanted would have had the perfect opportunity to remove it when she went to gather everyone at the crime scene, right Asahina?”

Aoi stepped back. “I-- I--”

“If Asahina was the  _ accomplice, _ then who committed the murder?” Hagakure rubbed the back of his head. “Togami’s right, I can’t think of anyone else Ogre would’ve taken a drink from.”

“Ogami drank the poison herself,” Kirigiri said, holding the blue glass up so everyone could get a clear view of it. “This bottle  _ was _ at the crime scene; there’s almost certainly no other reason that this poison bottle would’ve had a shard of glass from the crime scene’s broken window inside of it.”

“And that means Ogami would’ve known what she was drinking,” Naegi said.

“Right,” Kirigiri said. “Not only that, but you mentioned the spill of yellow powder in the chemistry lab earlier. Do you remember where else we saw yellow powder, Naegi?”

“Ogami’s shoe,” Naegi gasped.

“Why would she kill  _ herself, _ though?” Celeste asked. “I can’t really see a benefit to that course of action.”

“Ogami was being forced to spy on us for the mastermind,” Jack said. “Some of us… didn’t take the news well, to put it lightly.”

“Damn,” Kuwata said. “That’s, uh… That’s a lot to take in.”

“By creating a locked room scenario, she may have intended to make it clear that no one else could have committed the crime,” Kirigiri said.

“Fat lot of good  _ that _ did her,” Enoshima said. “We’ve been here for, what, like an hour now?”

“Well,  _ someone _ tampered with the crime scene.” Togami glared at Asahina.

“Someone  _ else _ didn’t consider peoples’ feelings and tried to drive us into the ground to feel smart about himself,” Jack muttered.

“What  _ does _ Fukawa see in him?” Maizono asked.

“She doesn’t love herself,” Celeste said. “That much is clear.”

“In  _ any _ case,” Monokuma said. “It sounds like you’ve all come to the end of your discussion, so-”

“No, wait!” Aoi said. “It was  _ definitely _ me, you guys. Why can’t you accept that?”

“Your story has too many holes,” Kirigiri said. “I can’t be confident voting for you.”

Voting time began.

Aoi voted for herself, but when the votes were displayed, all the others were for Sakura.

“Correct!” Monokuma declared.

“Asahina,” Naegi said. “Why? Why would you try to frame yourself?”

She pulled Sakura’s suicide note from her pocket, half crumpled where she’d been gripping it. “Why do you  _ think? _ She may have made the final decision, but you  _ all _ killed her! She felt so trapped, so--”

“Oh, is  _ that thing _ why you’ve been such a trouble for your classmates?” Monokuma laughed. “You didn’t realize it was fake?”

Owada started muttering something about ‘violence against the headmaster’, and he looked like he was  _ very _ close to trying it.

Aoi’s knees gave out beneath her, as Monokuma pulled out Sakura’s  _ real _ suicide note and started to read it aloud to the room.

When he interrupted himself to prevent ‘spoilers’, he pressed a button, and Sakura started to move.

“What’s--” she began, but Aoi was already pressed into her, sobbing.

She didn’t pay attention to anything else for a long time.

Eventually, Jill’s hand landed on her shoulder. “Everyone else’s gone upstairs,” she said quietly. “Togami’s decided to wash his hands of the idea of playing this game, thank goodness, but… Alter Ego is…”

Aoi looked at Jill, then at where Jill had turned towards a small, metal ball with Monokuma’s face on it.

“Oh, no,” she whispered.

“Is this… my fault?” Sakura asked.

“Mastermind’s the one that did it,” Jill said. “I… we’ve had some time to think about it, and I think everyone understands your concerns now, except maybe Togami but I doubt he knows what a loving family  _ is, _ so…”

“Shit, don’t make me feel  _ bad _ for him,” Aoi chuckled, wiping her eyes.

“Eh, don’t bother,” Jill said. “He’ll figure it out or he won’t. It’s not our job to handle that for him. Wanna head back up?”

“No,” Aoi admitted. “But… I should, shouldn’t I?”

“The others will be worried about you,” Sakura agreed.

“And, uh… I think it  _ might  _ be a good idea for you to give everyone a proper apology,” Enoshima added. “I mean, you  _ did _ sorta try to kill everyone.”

“Right…” Aoi took a sharp breath through her teeth. “Apologies are… definitely in order.”


	5. Framing Sequence

“So, Kirigiri’s not dead,” Asahina said. “That’s good, right?”

“It doesn’t seem like  _ anyone _ new is,” Celeste said. “What’s going on, precisely?”

“How do we know that’s not a ghost?” Hagakure demanded, pointing at Kirigiri.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Togami put his head in his hands. “Are you  _ fucking _ kidding me??”

“You’re-- You’re a real idiot, you know that?” Touko shook her head at Hagakure.

“I am going to  _ lose  _ my mind,” Maizono said.

“But how do we know?” Hagakure insisted.

“The corpse had fake nails,” Naegi said. “Kirigiri very obviously does  _ not. _ Does that help?”

“We can’t tell if she has fake nails under those gloves,” Hagakure said.

“No, I definitely don’t,” Kirigiri said. “I’m not a ghost. I haven’t been murdered.”

“Who’s dead, then?” Hagakure demanded.

“Good question,” Yamada agreed.

“Ikusaba Mukuro,” Naegi said. “The--”

“What?” Enoshima slammed her hands against her podium, eyes widening in shock.

“Who the  _ fuck _ is that,” Owada asked.

The rest of the dead erupted into similar clamours of shock, confusion, and general mayhem.

“Shut up,” Togami snapped.

Touko’s knees went weak for a moment. She forced herself to recover, withdrawing her handbook and laying out the situation in her notes.

“Ikusaba Mukuro was the Super High School Level Soldier,” Naegi said. “She was part of an organization called Fenrir. Togami and I looked over some files on it during the investigation.”

“Fenrir, the wolf of Ragnarok,” Touko mused. “Son of Loki and a Jotun. Although, technically, all the Aesir and Vanir were probably actually Jotuns, too, but--”

“As fascinating as this sort of mythological discussion is, we should focus on the task at hand,” Ogami said.

Touko wrinkled her nose at the interruption, but fell quiet.

“Now,” Togami said. “There are two people here who don’t have alibis-- Kirigiri and Naegi. Would either of you care to explain where you were last night?”

“I was… sick in bed,” Naegi said. “I was out like a light for most of the night.”

“How  _ convenient _ f-for you,” Touko spat.

“Not really,” Naegi rubbed the back of his head. “I--”

“And what about  _ you, _ Kirigiri?” Celeste turned to the mysterious girl. “Where were  _ you _ during this time?”

“I’ll admit I don’t have an alibi, either,” Kirigiri said. “But I promise I am  _ not _ the killer.”

“I’m not, either,” Naegi said.

“One of you has to be,” Togami said. “The rest of us were together during the whole time period the murder could have been committed.”

“Well,” Hagakure said. “That second part’s true, but does that mean it has to be one of those two? I mean, we’ve already had one student crawl out of the woodwork. Couldn’t there be another--”

“There are only 16 students participating in this killing school life,” Monokuma said.

“But before--”

“Monokuma never said there were  _ fifteen _ of us,” Kirigiri said. “For whatever reason, he cannot or will not lie to us directly.”

“‘Directly’ being the operative word,” Touko said. “S-Still, that means it’s you or Naegi.”

“And I know it’s not me,” Kirigiri said simply. “I’ll do whatever it takes to prove that. I’m not ready to die here.”

“I know it’s not me, either,” Naegi said, but he was quiet. Unsure.

“Well, if either of you wants to prove why it couldn’t be you,  _ please _ do so,” Togami said.

“That’s going to be difficult,” Ishimaru said. “Without alibis…”

Naegi snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it,” he said. “I don’t need an alibi for the whole night, because the murder couldn’t have taken place before 7:30!”

“Why not?” Enoshima gripped the edges of her podium tightly-- even if she’d still been a living human, there would have been no blood in her hands.

“We found the body in the garden,” Naegi said. “And the sprinklers in the garden go off every morning at 7:30am. The only water on the body was from when we put out the fire from the explosion-- if it had been there before 7:30, it would have been soaked through.”

“That’s right!” Asahina snapped her fingers. “And since we were together after 7:30, you couldn’t have done it!”

“Not necessarily,” Kirigiri said. “The tarp in the tool shed could have been used to cover the body until after the sprinklers went off. In fact, the one side being wet and dirty proves it was exposed to the sprinkler system. Were you two together the  _ entire _ time after 7:30?”

“Well, no, but--”

“Then Naegi could still have committed the murder.” Kirigiri’s eyes were cold and unyielding. “It wouldn’t take that long to hide the tarp.”

“If the tarp was laid over the body, wouldn’t blood have gotten on the one side?” Naegi was shaking. Touko hadn’t seen him this nervous since the beginning of the first trial. “I mean, Togami even said not to touch it because it hadn’t dried.”

“I’m pretty sure the blood not being dry would indicate a rather recent death, too,” Kuwata said. “I mean…”

“Hm.” Kirigiri considered that for a long moment. “Is it possible, then, that the blood wasn’t from her body, and was added later?”

“H-How?” Touko asked.

“One of the chickens was missing,” Hagakure said. “Are you implying that was hen’s blood?”

“Tell me, Naegi,” Kirigiri said. “When you investigated the body, was the victim wearing the coat in a normal manner?”

“I mean… no,” Naegi said. “Why would you make  _ me _ say it, though? I mean…”

“Then it’s likely that coat was prepared ahead of time,” Kirigiri said. “Bloodied with the dead chicken, and held in wait to be placed over the body after the tarp was removed.”

“With the knife through it,” Naegi said.

“Yes,” Kirigiri said. “The knife is likely not the real cause of death. Rather, a diversion.”

Enoshima was looking  _ too _ interested in this discussion, if Touko was honest.

“This is  _ great, _ really,” Maizono said. “But, uh… what  _ would _ have been the cause of death, then?”

“Blunt force trauma,” Togami said. “Besides those days old cuts, it’s her only injury. Not to mention, a collection of titanium arrows was in one of the lockers in the dojo, accompanied by bloody duct tape. We found the key in Kirigiri’s room, as well as the file on Ikusaba.”

“My room,” Kirigiri said. “The one  _ you _ had the key for.”

“Why’d  _ he _ have your room key?” Owada asked.

“Why’d he  _ want _ it?” Enoshima added.

“It… didn’t exactly seem like something he’d be interested in,” Celeste said.

“Sh-she was suspicious,” Touko said hotly. “He wanted to limit her movements.”

“And he ended up accidentally proving I  _ couldn’t _ have committed the murder,” Kirigiri said.

“So it’s Naegi,” Kuwata said.

“No, it’s not,” Naegi said.

“He wouldn’t,” Maizono said. “I can’t believe it was him. I  _ won’t _ believe it was him! He wouldn’t do something like that!”

“You can’t act like you know what he’d do in a situation like  _ this! _ We’ve been here long enough-- we’re  _ all  _ acting off.” Owada slammed his hand against his podium. “Really, we’ve all been off since the beginning, but-- shit,  _ Asahina  _ tried to kill everyone last trial, or did you forget? You  _ can’t _ know.”

“I can,” Maizono insisted.

“You really can’t,” Togami said.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to agree,” Celeste said. “When the chips are down… people are known to panic then.”

“But Naegi  _ wouldn’t _ do something like that,” Maizono said.

“Didn’t your entire murder plan hinge on us believing he would?” Ishimaru looked at her incredulously.

“Yeah, because no one really  _ knew _ him,” Maizono said. “Listen to me, everyone, he wouldn’t--”

“Why don’t we start voting time, and see what happens then?” Monokuma laughed.

“No!” Naegi and Maizono yelped.

The living voted.

Naegi was selected.

“No,” he choked. “No, I didn’t--”

“Correct!” Monokuma interrupted. “Let’s get on with the execution, shall we?”

“It’s  _ not _ possible,” Maizono said. “I-- What’s  _ this? _ What the  _ hell _ is this?”

“I-- I didn’t--” Naegi stammered, but it was no use.

They all knew he had, Touko figured, except maybe Maizono. Did he think he was sparing her, letting her think he was being falsely executed rather than a murderer? It was  _ almost _ enough to be tragic.

Trapped in a chair, at a desk, on a conveyor belt, Naegi was forcibly inched towards his fate.

“This is… horrible,” Enoshima said. “This is-- This has to be some sort of--”

The screen above the press, prepared to crush him, flickered. Monokuma’s face disappeared, being replaced with--

“Fujisaki?” Kuwata yelped, looking between Fujisaki and the screen.

“Alter Ego!” Fujisaki cheered as the press halted briefly.

Naegi passed under it, unharmed.

Then he was dropped into the pit beyond.

“Huh,” Monokuma said. “Looks like that meddling program managed to interfere in the end, after all. Whatever. Starving to death in a pit of garbage is  _ plenty _ more despair inducing than being crushed quickly.”

“You’re horrible,” Kirigiri said. “You’re a horrible bear.”

“Hey,” Monokuma said. “Don’t diss this despair bear.”

Then he vanished.

“Now what?” Asahina said. “I mean… I guess it’s the same as every other time, but…”

“That  _ was _ pretty short,” Hagakure said. “But if we got it right--”

“That  _ can’t _ have been the answer!” Maizono insisted. “That can’t have been-- It  _ can’t _ have been him! It can’t!”

“Kirigiri,” Enoshima said. “Can I… talk to you a second? Really quietly?”

Kirigiri went to her, and Enoshima whispered something in her ear. Touko saw her eyes widen, ever so slightly.

“What’d she j-just tell you?” she demanded.

“Nothing,” Enoshima said quickly.

“Enoshima was simply asking me a question,” Kirigiri said. “And to answer it, yes, I do. Thank you for asking.”

Enoshima nodded.

“That’s… weird,” Owada said.

“I’m heading back up,” Togami said.

“Me, too,” Touko said quickly.

“I’ll be down here a while longer,” Asahina said. “I think… this is probably the last time I’ll get to talk to Sakura.”

“Take your time,” Kirigiri said.

Maizono was shaking, staring at where Naegi had disappeared.

Touko left quickly.


	6. Last Dance

Yasuhiro looked warily around at the others as they arrived in the trial room.

“Naegi?” Maizono brightened. “You’re back!”

“Hi,” Naegi said, kind of weakly.

“What are we doing this time?” Kuwata asked. “I mean, it’s the second time you’ve come down here and no one new has been dead, Naegi apparently had a Jesus moment--”

“Oh, it’s the final trial,” Kirigiri said.

Monokuma hopped onto a stool behind the 16th podium.

“We’re having a retrial for Ikusaba’s murder, and trying to uncover the secrets of the school,” Togami said, pinching the bridge of his nose, “and we’re staking our lives on it, and it’s Kirigiri’s fault, and you’re  _ all _ plotting against me, I have proof.”

“Hey, that’s  _ my _ line!” Asahina said. “You’re all plotting against  _ me! _ I know it!”

“No, you’ve  _ all _ been plotting against  _ me _ from the beginning!” Yasuhiro accused.

Kirigiri sighed, and looked between Naegi and Jill. “You two aren’t going to get in on this, too, right?”

“I mean,” Naegi said. “I  _ have _ a picture of everyone but me, but I don’t think that’s proof I’ve been left out of something, especially not with what’s going on right now.”

“Oh, I just know better,” Jill said. “Touko was concerned, but she’s concerned about  _ everything, _ so that’s to be expected.”

Naegi held up a photograph. “If anyone else wants to pass their, uh, ‘proof’ around, maybe we can clear some things up? Since I didn’t get to ask any of my questions earlier…”

Yasuhiro considered that for a long moment, looking around the circle. Finally, he turned to Fujisaki and showed her the picture he’d gotten from Monokuma. “What’s this about?” he asked.

She looked at it, uncomprehending. “I… didn’t take this picture,” she said finally. “I don’t remember this at all.”

“Wait wait wait,” Asahina said. “Owada, look at this.” She held another photograph up to him.

“The fuck is this?” Owada plucked the picture from her fingers. “I don’t remember doing anything like this with you guys.”

“Give it back,” Asahina said.

“Let me guess,” Naegi said. “You all got pictures with everyone except you doing something together, too.”

“I didn’t,” Kirigiri said. “But, like I said, I didn’t go down to the gym for Monokuma’s ‘hint’. It sounded like something designed to make this whole process more confusing.”

Yasuhiro looked at his picture again. “So, what, the photos are fake?”

“Au contraire!” Monokuma beamed. “They’re  _ quite _ real!”

“Can I look at all the pictures for a moment?” Naegi asked. “I’ll give them right back, if it makes you feel better.”

Yasuhiro, Asahina, Togami, and Jill passed their photos around to Naegi. Yasuhiro caught a glimpse of Togami’s picture-- he certainly saw himself there.

“Yeah, it’s like I thought. Still, I feel like there’s something else weird with these pictures,” Naegi said, flipping through the pictures. “I’ll have to think on that. I might ask for these back later.”

“Oh, keep ours,” Jill said, typing quickly. “It’ll just freak Touko out, so we don’t need it.”

“Yeah, I… don’t know what I’d do with mine, either,” Asahina said. “If you think you can find something from it, go ahead.”

“I still don’t get it,” Yasuhiro said. “But… do you all  _ really _ not remember taking that picture?”

“I don’t remember any of these,” Naegi said.

“It…  _ is _ concerning,” Togami said. “If all these pictures  _ are  _ real, then why don’t we remember taking them?”

“We may have lost our memories,” Kirigiri said.

“Woah, hold on,” Yasuhiro said. “You  _ really _ expect us to believe that, just because of some pictures? Naegi, can’t you talk some sense into her?”

“I think she’s right, though,” Naegi said.

“Well, won’t  _ this _ be a fun explanation,” Togami muttered.

“Jill, come on, talk them out of this,” Asahina said. “This is-- this is just unreal, right?”

Jill tapped something out in her student handbook, and looked around the room nervously.

“Jill?” Kirigiri asked.

Fukawa blinked, looking down at her handbook. “That little-- O-okay, s-so,  _ everyone  _ got pictures like that. We’re talking about… amnesia? Really?”

“I know, right?” Asahina said. “It’s just… unreal, right?”

“It’s not,” Naegi said. “Kirigiri and I saw a video we don’t remember being in, too.”

Togami’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“The headmaster of Hope’s Peak Academy-- the  _ real  _ one,” Naegi said. “He asked each of us if we were willing to-- to--”

“If we were willing to accept the possibility of staying in this school forever,” Kirigiri finished. 

“No,” Celeste said.

“Yes,” Kirigiri said.

“We’d never!” Owada said. “There’s no way! I don’t care if the world was fucking  _ ending _ outside, there’s no way we’d agree to that!”

“We… kind of  _ did, _ though,” Naegi said.

“What?” Everyone’s voices rang through the whole room.

Kirigiri nodded. “Every last one of us,” she said. “So, not only did we forget agreeing to stay here, we forgot why we ever would.”

“That’s…” Ishimaru breathed.

“Impossible,” Yamada agreed.

“This is-- Monokuma must have done this,” Kuwata said.

“Mmmmaybe,” Monokuma said.

“So,” Owada said, “the mastermind steals our memories, fucks off to who knows where--”

“No,” Asahina said. “Monokuma’s being controlled from  _ inside _ the school. We  _ found _ the control room.”

“Where?” Ogami asked.

“Behind the data center,” Naegi said. “There was a hatch in the control room we couldn’t open, but we  _ were _ able to confirm that the room controlled Monokuma.”

“How?” Fujisaki asked.

“I… took control of Monokuma for a minute,” Asahina said.

Enoshima started to shake with barely contained laughter. “No,” she said.

“I did!” Asahina protested.

“That’s amazing!” Enoshima said. “What did you make him do?”

“Demand donuts,” Naegi said.

“Yeah, sounds like her,” Yasuhiro said.

“Anyways,” Monokuma said testily, “Now that you’re all satisfied with that--”

“I s-still have questions!” Fukawa cut in. “Does that mean that whoever the mastermind was programming conversations with Monokuma and joining us in secret?”

“I doubt it,” Asahina said. “I mean, I had to control Monokuma manually. I didn’t see anything that looked like that sort of function.”

“You’re also not very good with computers,” Fujisaki said.

“Most of the buttons were just… pop up, move around, microphone,” Naegi said. “Not to mention… planning out a conversation like that, we  _ would _ have noticed.”

“Well, maybe there’s an AI involved,” Kuwata said. “I mean, look at us. We’re not exactly human anymore.”

“That’s not impossible,” Celeste said. “After all, Fujisaki was able to create Alter Ego in a matter of days. Who knows how long the mastermind would have had?”

“I don’t think so,” Kirigiri said. “In fact, there’s a discrepancy in our school life here that would be resolved quite easily by the mastermind having to control Monokuma directly.”

“Eh?” Monokuma blinked, apparently genuinely confused. “What do you mean by that?”

“For all appearances,” Kirigiri said. “Ten people have died. However, in the morgue, there are only  _ nine  _ bodies, and in this trial room, there are only  _ nine _ robots.”

“Are you sure the mastermind didn’t just… destroy one of the corpses?” Yamada asked. “I mean, they could just not put up Ikusaba’s robot, because of--”

“If she were going to destroy a body, she would have destroyed Ikusabas,” Kirigiri said. “In order to hide the evidence that she killed her. However, Ikusaba Mukuro was still there. In fact, I was able to investigate her body without interference, and I found something very interesting.”

“This ought to be good,” Togami muttered.

“The blunt force injury on her head and the knife wound in her stomach were inflicted posthumously,” Kirigiri said.

Maizono leaned forward. “How do you even--”

“So, what, it was the days old wounds that killed her?” Fukawa crossed her arms. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“The Monokuma file didn’t say they were inflicted days before her death,” Naegi said. “It just said they were days old. When Kirigiri and I first discussed her findings, she said it was likely Ikusaba had been dead for some time before we found her.”

“Wouldn’t she have rotted, though?” Yasuhiro pointed out.

“Not if she was in the mastermind’s morgue,” Kirigiri said. “It’s quite likely that we saw her die as someone else, and her body was reused.”

“That would also explain why she wasn’t added to  _ our _ roster after her body’s discovery,” Ishimaru said. “She’s… already here.”

All of the robots looked around at each other, suspiciously.

“So,” Enoshima began.

“Who wants to fess up?” Owada said.

“It wouldn’t be  _ that _ difficult for a soldier to pretend to be a martial artist, would it?” Maizono asked.

“I am  _ not _ Ikusaba,” Ogami said firmly.

“Ikusaba was 169cm and around 44kg,” Kirigiri said. “Her physical statistics don’t match up with Ogami’s-- but they  _ do _ match up with someone else’s.”

“Enoshima Junko,” Fukawa said, holding up the report card on her handbook. “It’s-- They’re exactly the same.”

Everyone looked at Enoshima.

“Hi,” she said nervously.

“Are you--” Yasuhiro began, but Monokuma cut him off.

“Hold it! Are you  _ really _ implying a  _ soldier _ and a  _ gyaru _ have the same physical statistics?”

“Actually--” Enoshima tried.

“I  _ don’t _ buy it,” Monokuma insisted. “That’s impossible! That’s  _ more _ than impossible!”

“He’s got a point,” Celeste said. “Even if they were identical twins, the difference in activity…”

“Besides, wouldn’t we notice if one of them replaced the other at some point?” Togami crossed his arms. “Even discounting the physical differences, the behavior--”

“If it happened before we met, we’d have no reason to suspect it,” Kirigiri said.

“Of course we wouldn’t,” Fujisaki said. “I mean… it’s a little out there, isn’t it?”

“Which is why I have proof,” Kirigiri said. “The wounds on Ikusabas corpse match up with the wounds Enoshima sustained when Monokuma killed her-- wounds that Enoshima’s question after the last trial specifically called my attention to.”

“What?” Monokuma said, turning towards Enoshima, who raised her hands defensively.

“I just wanted to know!” She yelped.

“The rest of us didn’t hear that question,” Celeste said. “Do you mind, ah…?”

“‘Enoshima’ asked me if I remembered how she died,” Kirigiri said. “It was surprising enough that I made a conscious effort to keep it in mind.”

“Not only that, but Monokuma made a conscious effort to keep us from seeing Enoshima's face at any point before our memories with each other began-- he cut off the video early, and she’s obscured or looking away in all the photos we received.” Naegi held up the photographs. “She’s present, but not visible.”

“The girl we know as Enoshima Junko was  _ actually _ Ikusaba Mukuro,” Kirigiri said firmly. “And the  _ real _ Enoshima Junko was the mastermind.”

“That’s gotta be some sort of impossible,” Kuwata said. “I  _ can’t _ believe this. I’m sorry, I just can’t.”

“I can,” Maizono said.

“What does Enoshima have to say about this?” Togami raised an eyebrow. “I  _ suppose _ I can be willing to accept this line of argument, but since the topic of our discussion is right here, I think we should get some confirmation before we move forward.”

Everyone turned.

Wordlessly, ‘Enoshima’ reached under her podium and pushed a button, causing a curtain to pop up and wrap around her. After a solid fifteen seconds, the curtain folded back into wherever it had come from, revealing Ikusaba Mukuro as she appeared in her file and the photographs provided to them by Monokuma.

“Why, though,” Asahina said.

“It’s a lot to get into,” Ikusaba said.

“Short version?” Naegi asked.

Ikusaba sighed. “She’s my sister and I wanted to make her happy… by helping her plunge the whole world, herself included, into utter despair.”

“That seems counterintuitive,” Celeste said.

“Yeah, that’s kind of her whole thing,” Ikusaba agreed.

Monokuma huffed. “And now you’ve taken all the  _ fun _ out of it. You’re the worst.”

“Yeah, I know,” Ikusaba said, deflating slightly.

The trial room filled with a white fog, and when it cleared, the real Enoshima Junko stood there.

“How boring,” Enoshima sighed. “You figured me out.”

“So, you’ll let us leave?” Naegi asked hopefully.

“No,” she sighed.

“But we’ve solved the mysteries of this school, haven’t we?” Asahina asked.

“Not quite.” Enoshima drummed her fingers on the podium in front of her. “You remember what Kirigiri said earlier, don’t you?”

Everyone turned to Kirigiri.

“You took our memories,” Kirigiri said. “Of agreeing to stay here. Of  _ why _ we agreed to stay here.”

“Bingo!” Junko cheered, personality shifting in an instant. “So, before I give you the chance to leave, you just gotta remember why you’re here in the first place!”

“But… how?” Fukawa asked. “How-- How do you expect us to just… remember?”

“Figure it out, or I win!” Enoshima said brightly.

“We’re going to die here,” Togami sighed.

“Not necessarily,” Kirigiri said.

“What do you mean by that?” Yasuhiro demanded. “There’s no way we can figure this out!”

“Jack and Jill,” Naegi said. “Remember the third trial? Jack-- They--”

“Jack knew,” Celeste said. “They knew I wasn’t using my legal name, and… When Yamada reminded Jill about when the memories updated, she said something like--”

“‘That’s a shame, considering’,” Jill cut in, undoing Fukawa’s braids. “Give me a second, uh…”

“Do you remember agreeing to stay here?” Kuwata demanded.

“Hm?” Jill looked at him. “No, Touko presented our final agreement. Why?”

“You still remember more than the rest of us,” Ogami said. “Why would anyone make such an agreement in the first place?”

“Oh, yeah.” Jill glanced between Enoshima and Ikusaba. “Guess we  _ can _ talk about that now. Yeah, you all lost two years of memory, and society’s completely collapsed because of a memetic plague of what I can only describe as mega-depression. Also robots. Shit’s rough out there.”

“... What,” Owada said.

“The whole world fuckin’ fell to despair!” Enoshima declared.

“Yeah, that,” Jill said, scrolling through the notes in her handbook. “So that was your fault? Guess that kind of… ruins our quarantine.”

“Yeah,” Enoshima said eagerly. “Doesn’t that just  _ fill _ you with despair?”

“Not really,” Jill said. “I mean, sure, it’s a bit of a bummer, but…”

Yasuhiro couldn’t really understand her perspective on the whole situation. This new revelation was making  _ him _ feel like absolute crap. There wasn’t any point in getting out if society was in ruins. There was nothing to escape for.

There was nothing to  _ live _ for.

He could tell the others felt the same way. They all looked downcast. Defeated. Half dead already.

“You may as well just accept it,” Enoshima said. “I mean, there’s not really any point in escaping to a world like that, right?”

“Bullshit!” Naegi said. “There’s no way I’m just going to give up like that!”

“Ah, Naegi Makoto,” Enoshima sighed, almost dreamily. “Ever the variable. Tell you what; I’ll make you a deal.”

“Huh?”

“Junko,” Ikusaba said. “What are you doing?”

“We’ll have  _ one _ final vote,” Enoshima purred. “Me or you, Naegi. If  _ everyone here, _ living and dead, votes to execute  _ me, _ I’ll die, and you can all leave! But if even  _ one _ person votes for  _ you, _ you die, and everyone else gets to live out a peaceful school life forever. You’ll all be provided for quite completely; I’ll even arrange for the dead to be able to charge anywhere in the school, since technology’s not quite up to improving their batteries beyond the 45 minute mark for free wandering.”

“That’s not a fair vote,” Kirigiri said.

“Oh, I won’t be voting,” Enoshima laughed. “No point in interfering with the outcome.”

“What about Ikusaba?” Yasuhiro asked.

“What  _ about _ her?” Enoshima shrugged. “Anyways, Naegi, in the spirit of fairness, I’ll give you a few minutes to try and convince everyone to spare you.”

Naegi looked around the circle, visibly nervous. “Look,” he said finally. “I… I know it’s scary, thinking about going out into the world as it is now. Living here-- It sounds comfortable! But are you really going to be able to stand it forever? Will you be able to sit by while-- while the whole world falls to shit? We don’t know if our families or friends from before we came here are okay, but isn’t it  _ worse _ not knowing? We could do something, you know? We might be able to make a difference.”

“There are six of us who don’t need to be recharged every five minutes,” Yasuhiro said. “What difference could  _ we  _ make?”

“I-- I don’t know,” Naegi said. “But… it’d be more than if you just stayed here forever, right? Maybe I’m being selfish-- Maybe I just don’t want to die without knowing what happened to my family. I have a little sister, you know? If it’s been two years, then-- Shit, she’d be high school age now, if she’s still alive. Don’t you all have  _ someone  _ you want to check on?”

Yasuhiro thought of his mother. Where was she? What had happened to her?

She  _ definitely _ wouldn’t forgive him, if he decided to abandon the world, to kill his friend to stay in this place and run away from all the problems she’d almost certainly be facing head on right now.

He looked around at everyone else. They were starting to look uncertain. Hopeful, even.

Enoshima saw it, too. She frowned, a little. “It’s almost certain death out there, you know,” she said.

“And how would  _ you _ know?” Naegi countered. “We’ve been locked in here for  _ how _ long? Nothing’s set in stone. Things could’ve changed, or  _ we _ might even be able to change them, or…”

Enoshima said nothing, instead starting the vote countdown.

Yasuhiro cast his vote, and watched, waiting for the inevitable. At least he’d be able to honestly say he’d tried.

The voting ended. The votes tallied. The result was…

“I lost,” Enoshima said, almost in awe. “You really are something, Naegi Makoto. You even got my own sister to turn against me. That’s…”

“Enoshima?” Kirigiri asked.

“It just  _ fills _ me with the most  _ amazing _ despair!” Enoshima started to laugh, and she climbed up to the button sitting in front of Monokuma’s throne.

“Enoshima, wait!” Jill yelped.

“The sweetest despair of death,” Enoshima said. “The despair you can only feel once in a lifetime… finally!”

“Junko!” Ikusaba cried out.

“Thank you, Naegi Makoto,” Junko said. “Thank you for giving me this defeat.”

She pushed the button.

They watched her die.

There was a long, silent pause.

“That has got to be one of the weirdest coping mechanisms I’ve ever seen in my life,” Ishimaru said finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue sometime this weekend. Merry Christmas!


	7. Epilogue

Kamukura Izuru picked his way through the empty halls of Hope’s Peak Academy, staring dead-eyed at the school he, too, had once been a prisoner within.

He kept walking, eventually reaching the elevator, riding it down to the room that had been used by Enoshima Junko for her trials.

He had watched her broadcast, for lack of anything better to do, for the ever slim chance it may have been able to surprise him.

And it did, a little.

He’d expected Ikusaba’s betrayal to be ultimately meaningless-- That Hagakure had seemed weaker willed, that Togami more self centered, that Kirigiri more pragmatic…

And yet, Naegi Makoto had survived, and the school was empty.

Hope had triumphed over despair, and the school was empty.

A genuine  _ desire _ had sparked to like in the back of Izuru’s mind. He  _ wanted _ to see if this could happen  _ again. _

He knew just the stage for it, too.

Class 78 had been found by the Future Foundation. They had access to Gekkogahara’s Neo World Program. Some of them were searching for Class 77-B.

Class 77-B. The remnants of despair, in Enoshima’s death. Her first guinea pigs in the destruction of the human psyche.

Could Naegi’s hope repair them? Or would Enoshima’s despair claim them completely?

The monokuma robot on the floor held no intelligence-- as Kirigiri had predicted, it had been nothing more than a glorified puppet.

“Come now, Enoshima,” Izuru dully said to the empty room. “Surely you’re not content dying only once.”

He dissected the bear meticulously.

At its very core was a single scrap of paper. “Towa City.”

Izuru folded it and stuck it in his pocket.

It seemed he’d been correct.

He had his destination.

Time to start his  _ proper _ preparations.

This had the potential to be  _ very _ interesting indeed.


End file.
